The Ghost in the Warehouse
by MonkeeGirl97
Summary: The Ghostbusters are in their busy season and meet their first intelligent spirit at an embroidery factory. Egon is the only one able to communicate with her though which may turn into a problem for the others. My first public fanfiction... please be kind!
1. Chapter 1 Meeting the Ghost

It was one of the longest days they'd worked in over a year. Ghost sightings all over the city had kept them busy from before dawn and now, at their final stop, it was nearly midnight. Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddemore followed as Ray Stantz led the group to the door of the embroidery warehouse where their client was just unlocking the door.

She was middle aged with light brown hair pulled into a messy bun on her head. She had a friendly smile on her round face despite the exhaustion in her eyes.

"You guys have got to be the Ghostbusters." The owner shook each of their hands as she ushered them in. "I'm Margaret Wilson. Sorry you had to come all the way out here so late. But I understand you've been busy the past few weeks."

"Yes…that tends to happen when we're the only business with these specific qualifications. That and it's October…everyone always gets superstitious around Halloween." Peter said, as he followed the other three Ghostbusters into the dark building.

"I actually just got here, so give me a second to turn on the warehouse lights for you before you go in." Margaret said as she rushed off to a side room. Egon, the brains of the group pulled out his P.K.E meter and quickly began scanning the room for traces of the anomaly Ms. Wilson had called them about earlier in the week. Winston leaned casually against a large wooden desk in the center of the room, resting his aching legs for the moment.

"Got anything, Spengler?" Ray asked expectantly. Egon shook his head, a puzzled frown etched on his face. Peter stood in the doorway a blank expression on his face, half asleep.

"Oh, I don't know if you'll find anything in this room, she doesn't come in here as far as I know." Margaret walked back into the room and gestured to another door to the opposite wall. "She tends to stay in the workroom. Come, on I'll show you."

"Did you say, 'she'?" Ray asked as he moved to follow her. She nodded as she opened the door to the warehouse.

"How do you know the ghost is a female?" Winston asked as he slowly rose to his feet again to follow the others into the room.

"Because she's been here ever since a week after she died. She used to be an employee of mine."

"And how long have these occurrences been going on?" Egon questioned, taking his eyes away from his P.K.E. meter for only a second. The meter had still made no move to indicate that the anomaly was near.

"A little over two years now. Like I said, she's been here since about a week after she died." Margaret gestured at the four large embroidery machines in the front of the warehouse. "She doesn't come up here much…I think she prefers the back corner."

"So…you knew this ghost?" Winston pondered. "Who was she?"

"Her name was Melanie. Melanie Collins. She was maybe in her early twenties when she died. She'd been with the company for a little over a year give or take a month. She only worked part time so she wasn't here for long stretches at a time. She was a sweet girl. Graduated from high school then moved straight on to work after a few months. I think she was just trying to get a feel for the world around her before she moved on to more permanent things." Margaret seemed to look a little downcast as she spoke of her former employee.

"So… why do you think she's hanging around?" Ray asked quietly. Margaret looked up at him.

"She was in a car accident on the way here to work one morning. We've decided she still wanted to come in." She gave a half smile as she thought about it.

"Hey, free labor." Peter said with a smirk. The other three men snickered.

"Is she hostile?" Ray asked, wanting to move on to the back of the warehouse to wrap things up. Margaret looked up hastily and shook her head.

"Oh no, not at all. She mainly just…works. When she was…still here…we would have her work in the back unpacking boxes of clothing to be counted and sorted and then moved to the women in the front for them to embroider. And…that's what she still does."

The Ghostbusters gave each other questioning looks.

"So why did you call us?" Ray spoke finally, confusion in his voice.

"I didn't. That was one of my employees, Brenda. She's never really liked the idea of having a ghost for a coworker and I think she got a little overwhelmed the other day when her machine cut off on her."

"You mean, as in her machine was cut off by Melanie?" Ray suggested. Margaret nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah…but that's as close to hostile as she gets though. The machines will cut on or off by themselves a few times a day randomly. She doesn't hurt anything or anyone though, it's just like she's trying to get our attention. Like she's bored and in need of more work. Usually sending a few more boxes back there for her helps to keep her occupied while the rest of the women here are working."

"Are you able to see the ghost?" Winston asked. Margaret shook her head and pulled out her cellphone from her jacket pocket. She flipped through a few things while speaking.

"We've had a security camera installed just for this reason. Once we started noticing these strange things going on around here, we set it up near Melanie's old workspace." She finally pulled up what she was looking for and turned the phone so that the four Ghostbusters could crowd around it to look.

The camera was focused on two long wooden tables pushed together, crowded with half a dozen cardboard boxes and a few sheets of paper. As the video went along, a box cutter slowly but steadily rose from the table's surface and clicked open. As the Ghostbusters eagerly watched, the cutter slowly cut the closest cardboard box open and then closed and was replaced back onto the table. The box opened to reveal several bagged shirts which proceeded to float out of the box in two neat stacks. They seemed to separate by color and then one by one they were counted out and then replaced back into the box which closed expertly and set gently on the other side of the table.

"This is amazing…an actual intelligent spirit!" Ray exclaimed.

"She does this all day, every day?" Peter asked in disbelief. "She must get sick of that endless work…"

"Maybe that kind of mindless trivial work is what's keeping her here." Egon said quietly.

"Could you show us where the table is?" Ray suggested. His eagerness to make contact with the ghost had replaced his eagerness to get the job done. Margaret nodded and then led them towards the back of the warehouse.

"I hope you won't take her away though…she really isn't hostile at all. I almost wish Brenda hadn't called you to come all the way out here."

"Well…if she isn't a bother…maybe we could use her for research purposes…?" Ray suggested, turning to Egon.

As they walked, Egon still held his P.K.E. meter waiting for a reaction. They passed a folding machine that lay dormant to the right against the warehouse wall. As they walked by the machine, Egon could have sworn he heard a clicking noise. When he swiped the meter towards the machine it gave off a small bleep but then went silent. His shoulders slumped and he continued following the group.

"This is where she works." Margaret said as they came upon the back left corner of the warehouse room. The two tables stood side by side, one box laying open on the table's surface. A few shirts lay out on the tabletop in front of the box. Nothing moved.

"When was that video taken?" Ray asked as he studied the scene in front of him.

"Uh…that was last night. But this afternoon before I left, I checked on her back here and she was still working steadily. In fact, I came to tell her to take a break. She never listens though." She grinned.

The tables in front of the Ghostbusters were silent. Nothing happened as they all seemed to hold their breath. After several moments, Margaret finally spoke up.

"Don't be shy in front of these guys, Melanie. They're just here to see what you can do." She called out, looking around the workspace. Everything remained still. After a moment, the overhead florescent light flickered but the P.K.E meter remained quiet. The owner frowned and sighed halfheartedly, turning back to the experts.

"I'm sorry. She's not usually like this. We had some interested people come in once or twice when we first noticed her but she would work like normal around them. I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Maybe she's crossed over?" Winston suggested. Egon shook his head.

"I've got some slight readings but nothing major…" Egon trailed off as he stepped closer to the tables. A booming crash echoed around the room, making each of the five people jump.

"What was that?" Ray turned around back towards the front of the warehouse where the noise had come from.

"It sounded like a box hitting the floor up front. She gets a little defensive about her territory." Margaret said. She started walking back up to the front, followed by Ray and Winston who went along to check out the disturbance.

"You getting anything yet, Egon? I'm ready to go home." Peter said, leaning against a stack of boxes. Egon stood where he was, slowly scanning around the tables. The meter made a small whirring sound as he passed it over the open box and shirts.

"Nothing but the traces from where she's moved the shirts. I can't seem to find where she actually is. It's strange…" Egon moved further down the table to the left wall of the building where a large garage door stood locked. The trail got cold as he neared the door.

"She must be good at hide and seek." Peter yawned.

"Hey Pete! Egon! Come up here! The bathroom faucet is on and it's bleeding!" Ray called excitedly. Peter stood up and stumbled towards the front while Egon stayed back to see if he could pick up the trail again.

He turned back around from the garage door and slowly the meter started whirring again. He got the same readings as before when he passed it closer to the open box and then decided to try turning to the wall of boxes behind Melanie's workspace.

The machine went berserk. The whirring sound was suddenly accompanied by blinking yellow lights as the little arms of the P.K.E. meter flew straight up. Egon's heart started beating rapidly as he slowly raised his eyes to the top of the wall of boxes, a fierce cold breeze blowing his brown hair.

A girl laid there, her chin resting in her hands. She was staring down at him, amusement flickering in her eyes. She had pink cheeks and shoulder length wavy brown hair. She was in a plain black T-shirt and jeans, and what looked like bare feet. She seemed completely alive, yet the meter didn't lie. Egon could only stare back at the girl in confusion.

"That thing looks like it's about to blow up or something." She said quietly, nodding towards the P.K.E. meter in his hand. He glanced down into his hand to see that smoke had indeed started to emit from the device. He quickly shut it off and let his hand fall to his side. The girl still lay causally on top of the boxes staring down at Egon, studying him almost as much as he was studying her.

"Your name wouldn't be Melanie by any chance, now would it?" Egon broke the silence. She blinked and her smile widened. The fluorescent lights in the room pulsed and flickered.

"Spengler, where are you?"

Egon turned toward Ray's voice echoing from the front of the building. He regretted his movement as soon as he did it. As he swung his gaze back towards the top of the box wall, Melanie was gone. He stared at the boxes willing her to come back as he switched the P.K.E meter back on. The device gave a short pulse of light and then exploded in his hand. He quickly dropped it and spun around.

"I'm sorry, did I do that?"

Egon nearly fell backwards. Melanie had moved down to the ground behind him. He tried to gain his footing and braced himself against the table. She was his height, looking him straight in the eyes. Then he noticed that she was floating nearly a foot from the ground, her bare feet dangling in midair. She still seemed puzzled.

"Can you really see me?" She asked hopefully. Egon nodded. Her blue-green eyes twinkled as she smiled at him.

"Has no one been able to see you until now?" He asked. She slowly shook her head.

"No."

"Hey Egon…" Peter called as he made his way to the back of the warehouse. Egon didn't let his eyes leave the ghost in front of him as he called back to answer.

"What are you doing? We thought you'd be interested in stuff like this?" Peter held up a container of red liquid. Egon slowly half turned to look at the sample in Peter's hand.

"Oh, okay. Thanks Venkman." He reached for the container but Peter pulled it away.

"Who were you talking to? Did you find the ghost?" He asked half interested. Egon paused. He glanced back to Melanie who was stifling a giggle. Egon looked back at Peter who was waiting patiently for an answer. Clearly he couldn't see her.

"I found her." He said softly. He raised an eyebrow as Melanie floated closer between the two men.

"You didn't call us!" Ray protested as he jogged up behind Peter. Egon narrowed his eyes, noticing that Ray didn't acknowledge the girl beside him either.

"Too caught up in the moment, huh Egon?" Winston said as he joined the group.

"Where's Margaret?" Egon asked changing the subject. Ray thumbed over his shoulder.

"She's cleaning up the mess in the bathroom. The sink started overflowing with this blood…" Ray swiped the container from Peter and handed it to Egon.

"It's not really blood." Melanie said, stifling another laugh. Egon glanced briefly at the girl before acknowledging to his colleagues that it indeed, wasn't real blood. Ray's excited face fell slightly at the news.

"Oh. Well what is it?"

Egon glanced to Melanie who shrugged.

"I'll have it tested back at the lab." He said abruptly. Ray looked at Egon, raising an eyebrow before nodding in agreement.

"So what did you find?" Peter pressed on. Egon flashed him a glance. Ray stepped forward to pick up the broken P.K.E. meter.

"It must have been something big…this is some pretty strong equipment." Ray looked up to Egon waiting for an answer. Egon paused.

"Well. I think I've found her boundaries. She can't seem to leave the building."

"She can't leave or she won't?" Winston asked, curious.

"She can't. The garage door was cold. I got nothing on the meter from the front door either. I assume she's trapped here." Egon said, glancing back to Melanie. She had moved back up to her boxes and was watching the scene in front of her silently.

"That wouldn't destroy the meter…" Ray continued, pressing for more information. Egon's shoulders slumped.

"Yes…I saw her."

The other three Ghostbusters stared at him.

"And?" Ray said excitedly.

Egon raised an eyebrow.

"Where is she? What'd she do?" Peter asked. Egon glanced up to see that Melanie had disappeared once again. He looked around the room, not seeing her anywhere.

"She seemed surprised that I could see her. Apparently none of the other workers have been able to since she's been here."

"Poor girl…" Winston sympathized.

"And she broke the meter?" Ray asked, still studying the smoking remains of the device in his hand.

"She got too close." Egon said smirking.

"Wow…" Ray said, amazed.

"Where is she now, Egon?" Peter asked looking around. Egon shook his head and shrugged.

"She disappeared. I think she was overwhelmed."

"Aww she likes you! That's a good sign, right?" Ray exclaimed.

"Did you gentlemen find anything useful? I finished cleaning the bathroom." Margaret said as she rejoined the group in the back corner of the warehouse.

"We found a little bit, but we'd like to come back once we've reviewed what we found if that's alright with you?" Ray said. Margaret nodded. She exchanged contact information with Ray as Egon looked around one last time. Melanie was nowhere to be seen.

"Okay so next week sounds okay with you? We'll be here." Margaret said. She smiled and turned to lead the way out. Egon stayed back to see if Melanie would reappear once the area cleared out some but she never did. As he turned to leave, he felt a small cool breeze whip his glasses off of his face followed by a small burst of laughter.

"Come back soon Egon."

He caught his glasses before they fell and put them back on hurriedly but when he glanced over his shoulder he still didn't see anything. He stumbled after the other Ghostbusters hurriedly before he was missed.


	2. Chapter 2 Melanie's POV

**Hey everyone! Just a heads up, I'm going to be switching back and forth between Melanie's perspective and a 3rd person viewpoint in my story. Hope that doesn't confuse anyone!**

I watched as the four men entered the building where I had been trapped working for so long. They wore strange looking packs on their backs as they followed my former boss into the back room, and I could only assume they were talking about me. I had been working with no complaint for so long, (hard to complain when no one could hear you) why should there be a problem? I had no idea why these men were here but it couldn't mean anything good for me…

After what seemed like forever, I finally heard them heading towards the back where I was working. I dropped the box of shirts I had been sifting through and fled to my hiding place behind the folding machine. I peered through the machinery, studying each of the strangers as they talked to my boss. When they came upon the machine, the man with the glasses glanced up right at me as if he knew I was there. I changed hiding places as quickly and silently as I could; fleeing to the wall of boxes I had yet to go work through. From up there I was able to oversee the whole back corner of the warehouse.

"Don't be shy in front of these guys, Melanie. They just want to see what you can do."

I heard Margaret, my former boss calling to me softly. For some reason I couldn't bring myself to leave my hiding place. All I could do was bite my lip and stare at the four men.

The tall one with the glasses who I'd heard the others call Egon, slowly stepped forward towards my worktable. He held up a small strange looking device and seemed to scan the shirts I had been unfolding. A little ticked off at his intrusion, I sent a pulse throughout the room and heard a box fall from the impact it had on the other side of the warehouse. Maybe that would draw them away from my area.

I thought it had worked until I saw that only two of the men followed my boss to the front of the warehouse. Egon and the tired looking man, Peter stayed behind. I narrowed my eyes trying to think of a better idea to lure them away from me.

"Have you got anything yet, Egon? I'm ready to go home." Peter said slumping against the table.

I bit my lip and sent another pulse through the room. The lights above flickered slightly and I felt the plumbing shift throughout the building. I heard one of the other men up front call out to the others and watched dejectedly as only Peter left to investigate. I turned my gaze to the remaining man.

He was walking slowly towards the garage door and as he touched it, the machine in his hand stopped making noise. It must have been scanning for ghostly activity, because when it reached my limits at the door, it went silent. The tall man turned around slowly and retraced his steps trying to pick up my signal. He went back to the box I had been working on and seemed to study it for a long moment.

Then he turned around.

The machine was instantly buzzing with signals and he looked down at it confusedly. I could see the realization in his face as he slowly raised his head to look up for the source of the activity. When his eyes met mine, I froze in surprise. He looked equally dumbfounded. The small device in his hand started to pop and sputter but he didn't move.

"That thing looks like it's about to blow up or something." I said after a long time. He blinked and seemed to come back to life as he glanced down and shut the device off. He took a step closer and I braced myself. If these guys were tracking down ghosts, what did they do when they encountered one?

"You're name wouldn't happen to be Melanie, now would it?" He said after clearing his throat.

He knew who I was! I sat up a little straighter, unable to contain my excitement. I was about to answer him when one of his friends called out to him. He turned away and I took my chance.

I reappeared down behind him, wanting to get a closer look at the pack on his back. It was blinking in some places and it had a large gun looking thing in a holster on the side. There was a loud pop and he spun around, dropping the device to the cement floor. It had exploded it his hand and lay smoking on the floor.

"I-I'm sorry! Did I do that?" I said, noticing that he held his hand as if the device had burned him. He wouldn't look away.

"Can…you really see me?" I asked quietly. He nodded and then straightened himself a bit. He studied me for a moment before his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Has no one been able to see you before now?"

I hesitated.

"No."

Egon studied me for a few seconds. He looked like he was about to say something when another of his friends, Peter ran up behind him.

"Hey, Egon?" He asked as he clapped a hand on Egon's shoulder. Egon half turned but didn't look away from me as he replied.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing? We thought you were interested in stuff like this." Peter shoved a container of red liquid at Egon.

"Oh…okay thanks, Venkman." He mumbled. I smiled shyly at Peter but he never glanced up at me. After a few seconds, my smile fell and the other two men came rushing towards their group. None of them noticed me, but Egon was still trying awkwardly to keep an eye on me. I smirked as I realized he was afraid I'd disappear on him again.

"So who were you talking to? Did you find the ghost?" Peter asked. Egon glanced at me. I smiled, waiting to see if he would tell the others about me.

"I found her." He confirmed. My smile widened. I waited for the other three men to notice me standing within their group but no one save for Egon seemed to be able to see me.

"You didn't call us!" Ray, who I took to be the leader of their little group exclaimed. He looked excited for some reason.

"Too caught up in the moment, huh Egon?" I turned to see Winston, who smiled eagerly towards his friend. Egon smirked a little bit.

"Where's Margaret?" He asked, noticing she wasn't with the others.

"She's cleaning up the mess in the bathroom…" Ray thumbed over his shoulder then grabbed the container of red liquid from Peter and handed it to Egon. I stared at it for a moment and then laughed.

"It's not really blood…" I told Egon. He looked confused for a moment before relaying it to the others whose faces fell. Peter didn't really seem to care.

"We'll run some tests on it back at the lab…" Egon said. Ray agreed eagerly. Growing bored with the babbling of the four colleagues, I turned and felt myself fade away and reappeared back up in my favorite resting spot on top of the boxes. I watched as Egon fumbled with the decision on whether or not to tell his friends about seeing me.

 _It is odd that the others can't see me_ … I thought to myself.

The four men conversed for a little bit longer, and then headed slowly for the front of the building once more. Egon stayed still for a few minutes looking around. Weary with the night's excitement, I realized that I was invisible to him. I floated down past him as he trudged after the others. Then as a goodbye, I reached towards him and whipped off his glasses. He reflexively reached out for them and I handed them back to him with a laugh.

"Come back soon, Egon."

I smiled after him as he turned around once more, but he still couldn't see me. I floated back to my tower of boxes.

The Ghostbusters piled into the Ecto-1, many different thoughts running through their heads. Ray, in the driver's seat couldn't help being confused with Egon's behavior in the embroidery warehouse. He was distracted which, having known him for over a decade, was out of character for Egon. He turned towards his friend as he climbed into the backseat with Peter.

"Spengler, is something wrong?"

"No…I very much want to come back for more tests though. Melanie is a very interesting apparition." He said. Peter scoffed.

"You gotta crush on this girl and we can't even see her!"

"Yeah that is kinda weird. We usually can see the type of ghosts we catch. What's wrong with this one?" Winston asked, turning to Ray.

"Well…maybe being the only intelligent ghost we've met has something to do with it. She's the only one who has responded to our contact, or Egon's contact, rather." Ray smirked as he started the car.


	3. Chapter 3 The Surprise Visit

It was Wednesday evening, and for the first time in a long time, I couldn't work. I kept running my encounter with the four ghost chasers through my mind. Egon was the only one who could see me… _what did that mean?_

I forced myself down from my perch on one of the many shelves in the warehouse and grabbed the nearest box on the table. I whipped the box cutter open and sliced effortlessly through the packing tape. Just for fun, I held the knife out on my palm and watched as it began to levitate as I willed it. I watched as it clicked closed and dropped gently to the tabletop. I turned back to the box and began to pull out the contents.

I heard the front door of the building slam shut. I looked up, expecting Margaret to come in to retrieve something she had forgotten like she sometimes did. After a moment, when she still didn't enter I figured she was in her office doing computer work. I went back silently to my counting and sorting.

Thinking about how odd it was that someone could see me after the long time since my passing, my thoughts strayed to when I had first realized that I was dead.

It had been raining outside and my hair had been damp. I had felt chilled all morning as I worked, having seemed to have forgotten my jacket at home. The boxes were cluttered all around the back corner, silent towers of work that surrounded me in my own cardboard city.

After working for hours, my body still trembling from the frigid air around me, I decided to mention it to one of the women. I grabbed a finished box and started to carry it to a machine. Before I could turn around however, I heard a loud scream echo from behind me. I whirled around, nearly dropping the heavy box to see Teresa, one of the older women who worked up front. She was standing frozen, staring at the cardboard box in my hands. Thinking there was a spider or something on the box that I couldn't see, I dropped it back onto the table.

"Did I get rid of it?" I asked, carefully checking over the box. Teresa didn't answer, she only stood there staring at the table. I awkwardly stepped away so that she could examine the box herself, thinking that if she reassured herself that whatever it was had gone she'd leave me alone.

"What happened?" I looked up as Brenda, another worker, one who didn't like me very much, weaved her way through the cardboard city. She came up beside Teresa, looking at the box as well. Teresa turned to her, looking genuinely shaken.

"I don't know, she just screamed for no reason. I thought she had seen a bug on the box or something but when I put it down I didn't see anything." I murmured as the women stepped away from the table.

"The box…it… _moved_ …" Teresa stammered. I cocked my head to the side confused.

"What do you mean?" Brenda asked annoyed. Just then Margaret, my boss rounded the corner, worry plastered on her face.

"What's the problem, ladies?" She asked. Teresa repeated herself. I didn't say anything.

"What do you mean it moved on its own?" Margaret asked with disbelief in her voice. She put a hand on her hip and stared at the woman. I moved next to the box and glanced it over again, still seeing nothing. I nudged it gently, still scanning the box to see if the unseen bug had gone. Teresa gasped and pointed furiously at me.

"There! There it goes again!"

I stared at the three women in confusion. Margaret's disbelief had melted from her face and had been replaced by wariness. She turned to the other two women.

"I think we'll call it a day now, you girls have been working a little too hard. Let's go let everyone else know." Margaret led them back to the front of the warehouse. A little relieved, I knelt to look underneath my worktable to retrieve my purse. Not seeing it, I groped towards the back, thinking it had fallen. When I still couldn't find it, I stood back up and moved to follow the other women to the front, assuming I had left it in the breakroom.

By that time, the other women had already packed up their things and shut their embroidery machines off. The room was lit only by the lights on the machines, waiting for Margaret to check them and shut them off. As I walked past them, the lights blinked and I stopped. I hated being in rooms by myself.

I continued down the small walkway between the large embroidery machines and strangely, as I passed each machine the lights overhead blinked with a fizzing sound. I quickened my pace, heading for the front entrance. The door was shut. As I passed the last machine, the lights popped and went out. I slowly turned around and watched as one by one each of the others went out as well. I was in the dark.

I fumbled for the doorknob, barely able to see. As I finally found it, I watched in horror as it twisted open before I was able to touch it. The door creaked open, revealing the hallway to the front entrance. I stepped back, the chill I had suffered through all day growing even colder.

"Hello?" I heard Margaret's voice.

"It's me, Melanie…" I called out hearing my voice shake with the cold and mixed fears.

Margaret slowly crept down the hallway using her cellphone as a flashlight. She gasped as she saw the darkened warehouse.

"What…" She squeaked.

"I don't know…it really creeped me out. Like there's a ghost or something in here…" I said quietly. Margaret stepped forward into the room. Little did I know that there really was a ghost in the embroidery warehouse. As my boss walked right through me, I realized that the ghost was me.

"Melanie?"

I was suddenly pulled back into the present as I felt an involuntary pulse shoot through the air, causing the already dimmed lights in the warehouse to blink. I glanced over to see Egon stroll hesitantly around the corner. I realized he couldn't see me so I willed myself to become visible.

"There you are." He continued his walk towards me. I smiled.

"What took you so long?" I asked, tossing the shirts back into the box and folding the flaps closed. I suddenly noticed he looked different. He wasn't in his beige uniform from his previous visit nor did he have his weapon-like backpack on his back. He was in a sweater vest and khakis. I floated over to him. "And where is your backpack?"

He looked at me confused and then realized what I was talking about.

"Oh, my proton pack? I didn't figure I would need it." He retrieved a small device from his pocket, similar to the one I had broken. "Would you mind if I ran a few more tests?"

"Would you let me say no?" I joked. He smirked slightly as he switched on the device. It immediately flared to life and I took a step back.

"No, you can stay where you are. I enhanced the frequencies on this one so it should hold up better."

I stared at him, feeling a little uncomfortable as he moved closer to me. He held the device up in front of my face and I tilted my head to the side to see Egon's reaction. He was totally absorbed in whatever data he was receiving from the meter in his hand. After a long moment I slowly reached out and swiped the device from his hand.

"What does this even do?" I asked. Egon's eyes widened. The meter was starting to smoke again. I quickly returned it to him as he recorded whatever readings the device showed him. He then turned it off and looked at me again.

"Do you know how you're able to move objects?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"How you're able to do your job. Ghosts can't usually do things like that for long periods of time." Egon picked up a box from a stack against the table, struggling a little as he discovered how heavy it was. He held it out to me and I took it from him, holding it effortlessly against me. He nodded in thought.

"I don't know…I really don't think I've thought much about it before now." I gently set the box back onto the table.

"So…the last time I was here, you made something fall from across the warehouse. You can control objects with telekinesis too?" He asked. I shrugged. He looked around the room for a few seconds and then pointed to a clock hanging on the far wall of the building. "Try to move the hands on that clock."

I stared at the clock for a long moment. Its plain black rim and white face burned into my mind and suddenly the hands spun uncontrollably around for several seconds before landing back at the regular time of day, six thirty. I looked back to Egon who was punching something in on another small device. I leaned over his shoulder to see and he quickly pocketed it.

"And what about the pipes? How were you able to do that?"

"I really don't know. It's like I send out these pulses of energy…"

"So it is telekinesis!" He confirmed with a smirk. I blinked.

He reached into his coat pocket once more and held the container with the sample from the sink he had taken the other night.

"Can you explain this to me? When we got back to the lab the other night, this 'blood' had transformed back into plain tap water." I took the container from him and frowned.

"I'm sorry…I just…don't know how to explain it. It's like an illusion or something I guess. Maybe since I'm confined to the building, I can only control what goes on from here…" I expected him to shoot down my theory with more science talk but he didn't.

"That actually sounds pretty accurate." He said. "And to think, your poor boss could have just waited out the illusion instead of cleaning it all up that night."

"Yeah…I feel terrible about all of the extra work I end up putting them through…" I smirked. "Lightbulbs here break all the time. And the machines sometimes have bad days… whether it's my fault or not, I definitely get the blame."

Egon shook his head in sympathy. I tilted my head as he glanced at the floor.

"Humans don't realize the control that spirits can have over the environment. Don't let it bother you."

I stared at him. He glanced back up at me and then cleared his throat. I smirked.

"Want me to show you something else?" I asked, looking for the box cutter on the table where I'd left it. He took another device out of his pocket… _how many of those gadgets did he have?_ But I simply smiled excitedly and watched his reaction as he saw the knife float from the table to my right hand. It rested on my palm and then I let it slowly melt through my fingers. I willed it into my left hand then and felt it materialize on my left palm.

"Alright so you've shown me you can manipulate inanimate objects, what can you do to humans?" Egon asked. I blinked and felt the knife slip through my hand and clatter to the floor.

"What do you mean?"

He held out his hand. I stared at it confused not knowing what he wanted me to do.

"You…want me to make you disappear and reappear?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"No, just touch my hand." He said holding the device in his other hand. I stared at his hand for a long moment before hesitantly reaching out as if to put my hand in his. I bit my lip concentrating on keeping my hand solid.

I tested the surface of his hand first, feeling the warmth radiating from his palm. I slowly rested the rest of my hand on his and looked at his face. His eyes were wide as he watched. I looked back down just in time to feel my grip loosen and fall straight through his open hand. I drew back quickly waiting for his reaction. I had seen movies…I knew he was probably going to go into shock or something.

He stood still, just looking at his hand, flexing his fingers. His face was set in a concentrating look and I stared at him.

"I-I'm sorry Egon…"

"Interesting. You can move inanimate objects at will but living tissue you have no control over." He looked up at me after a long moment and smirked.

I narrowed my eyes, slightly ticked off with the pressure I felt he had put on me. I sent a small pulse through the workspace and watched as he stumbled back a step into the table.

"No control, huh?" I laughed. He straightened himself and smiled warily again.


	4. Chapter 4 The Firehouse Talk

**Sorry this chapter is so short! I've been working all week and before you ask, yes I really do work at an embroidery warehouse. They've actually started me on my own machine this week and I was pretty nervous and worked up about it. I've got a good handle on it now though and I really enjoy it! I get more and more ideas for this story every day, it's just hard to find the time to write it all down. But don't worry, it's coming! Please let me know what you think so far, I'd love to hear some feedback!**

Back at the Ghostbusters headquarters, Ray and Winston were hovering over the computer in the corner. They were logging their previous catch, a nasty ghost that had been tormenting passengers on the subway. It had taken some time and effort, especially with Egon taking his day off, but they'd been able to capture the spirit and bring it back to the containment unit with hardly any trouble.

"Any more calls, Janine?" Peter's voice echoed from the first floor as he came up from the basement where he'd been securing the ghost in the containment unit.

"No. Wait…there was one. It was that homeless guy calling to say that he was possessed again. I didn't know if you wanted me to take him seriously this time or not so I told him I'd give you the message when you got back." Janine said. Peter scoffed.

"Nah…he calls every week. Just ignore it." Ray and Winston heard him start up the stairs. When Peter reached the landing, he threw the empty trap onto the breakroom table. "Casper is in his room with his friends now. What are we doing for dinner?"

"We thought we'd wait for Egon. He's been gone since lunch. We figured he wouldn't be this long…" Ray said turning away from the computer. Peter flopped into a chair at the table.

"He doesn't usually take days off, does he?" Winston asked skeptically. Ray shook his head. "Where do you think he went?"

"Probably went to see that new girl of his back at that warehouse. Isn't that what he's been studying all week?" Peter suggested. Ray turned to him.

"But we told Margaret that we would check back with her later next week. There's no reason for him to have gone back there before then…"

The three Ghostbusters fell silent as they heard the door open downstairs and Egon's familiar voice drifted up as he greeted the secretary. Peter gave Ray a satisfied smirk.

"Speak of the devil."

Egon entered the room, an excited twinkle in his eyes. He unloaded his pockets, dropping his modified P.K.E. meter and other gadgets onto the equipment table next to the computer.

"We missed you on the subway bust this afternoon. Have a nice time?" Winston leaned against the table and crossed his arms, studying Egon.

Egon stopped and glanced up at his three companions.

"Uh…yes. I managed to get some extra research done at the embroidery warehouse. I wanted to have a decent amount of information to give Margaret when we meet with her next week." He straightened his coat and turned back to the equipment.

"Told ya." Peter said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms behind his head.

"So you were able to get her to come out of hiding again? Wow Egon you must really have the touch." Winston joked.

"Well if you plan on stopping by again before next week, I'd like to go with you. You know, to see if she can manifest again." Ray said eagerly.

"He's a bit jealous that he can't see your girlfriend, Egon. We all are." Peter said. Egon narrowed his eyes at Venkman and then nodded.

"I think I'll go back this Friday. Maybe during hours while the workers are there to see how she reacts with others in the building." Egon suggested.

"We can go around lunch time when the women are about to go on their break. If she has a problem showing herself while the other workers are there, we can see what changes when they leave." Ray babbled excitedly.

"Okay, but for now let's get to talking about dinner. We need something to eat after the mess we dealt with today!" Winston said, breaking up the two excited scientists.


	5. Chapter 5 Melanie Finds Out

Ecto-1 pulled up to the Wilson Embroidery Warehouse on Friday morning. The sky was bright and clear despite the chilly October air. Egon jumped out of the car and rushed to the back to start unloading his equipment while Ray got out of the driver's side. Ray grabbed his proton pack and slid it on over his shoulders. Egon stopped packing his bag of gadgets to glance at him warily.

"I don't think you'll need that in here, Ray. She won't hurt anyone." Egon continued loading the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He slammed the back door of Ecto-1 shut and led the way into the warehouse.

"You know me…I like to be prepared, that's all." Ray said quietly as he strapped the pack around his middle.

When they entered the building, a bell rang and Margaret rushed into the room, a puzzled look on her face. She took in the two Ghostbusters' appearances and gently nudged the door to the workroom shut.

"What's this? I thought you all weren't coming back until next week." Margaret glanced back to the door behind her.

"It's just us, Ms. Wilson. We wanted to run some more tests with Melanie if that's okay?" Ray said politely. Margaret seemed torn as she stared between the two men in front of her.

"I thought that's what he came back for the other night…" She glanced at Egon. Then she seemed to finally relent when she realized that the two Ghostbusters weren't in a hurry to leave. "Fine, but be quick. I don't want my employees disturbed in their work."

"We'll be very quick, Margaret." Ray said as he stepped by the woman and opened the warehouse door.

Four machines were alive in the front of the workroom with four women running them. They were in various states of work, some framing shirts, some trimming them. The women each glanced up at them and their gazes lingered for several seconds on the unusually dressed men.

"It's alright ladies…we're only here to investigate your invisible friend, Melanie. We'll stay out of your hair." Ray called out over the humming of the embroidery machines. The women still stared in interest.

Margaret placed a hand on Ray's shoulder. He slowly turned around to face her apologetically.

"Well, what was I supposed to say?"

"Where has Melanie been today, Margaret?" Egon asked quietly. Margaret turned and glanced back at the four women at the machines. They all went hesitantly back to their work, still stealing glances at the Ghostbusters.

"Well, Dr. Spengler…I took your advice and had her moved to the front with Connie. She's the blonde woman over there at the machine in the left corner. Melanie's been working with her, refolding the shirts after they've been taken off the machine. It's been a little challenging for Connie, but she's the only one who was up for allowing Melanie close to her."

"And how has she taken to the change?" Egon asked.

"Like I said, Connie says it's been a little awkward for her. It's kind of funny to see her talking to herself though." Margaret smiled. Egon shook his head.

"No, I meant how has Melanie behaved with the change in her work routine?"

"Oh…well she's taken it up pretty easily. She does what Connie tells her to and doesn't complain. What more can there be?" Margaret said.

As she spoke, Ray and Egon noticed a pile of shirts folded neatly hovering above the table next to the short blonde woman, Connie. Egon stepped closer and shifted the gadget bag back over his shoulder.

"Excuse me?" He said, Connie looked up from her work and stared in confused silence. Egon gestured at the machinery behind her and she quickly whirled around and turned it off.

"Y-yes?" She asked warily, glancing at the stack of clothing moving on its own behind her.

"I'm Dr. Egon Spengler… could I possibly borrow your assistant for a bit?" Egon offered Connie his hand to shake which she did with a glance at his uniform and rubber gloves. Egon watched as Melanie slowly faded into sight, a questioning look on her face.

"Sure…" Connie trailed off as she half turned to where the pile of shirts gently fell to the tabletop. Melanie brushed off her clothes as she moved past the woman towards Egon. Connie shivered slightly as the ghost moved by her but then turned and went hurriedly back to work.

"Where do you want me?" Melanie asked, an excited glow about her. Egon gestured towards the back of the building. The lights were pulsing with her excitement and he figured the best place would be to get away from the other live witnesses in the room.

"We've got everything under control, ma'am, no need to worry." Ray said as he followed Egon, leaving Margaret standing in the doorway. As they passed one machine, a dark haired woman stopped Egon and pulled him aside.

"When are you going to take her away? Isn't that what you Ghostbusters do?"

Egon quickly glanced up at Melanie who he hoped hadn't heard the woman. Melanie slowly turned back to Egon and the excited smile that had been on her face was instantly gone. She was silent as she stood frozen with hurt in her eyes. Egon held his breath. She shook her head in disbelief and then melted through the wall of boxes leading to the back of the room. The woman who had grabbed Egon let out a scream as her machine went berserk and started spitting out sparks. The florescent light above her station blinked out with a loud pop.

"I think she heard you." Egon said, disappointed. He looked back to Ray who was staring amazed at the cacophony at the woman's machine. Just as quickly as it had started everything went back to normal. Margaret rushed over, waving the two men away. She checked over the machine while the woman explained what had happened.

"Don't mind Brenda…she's never liked Melanie." Margaret mumbled to the men. She then went back to reassuring the woman as Egon and Ray carefully made their way to the back of the warehouse.

"Looks like we caught her on one of her bad days…" Ray said quietly. Egon shook his head.

"I think she's put two and two together on what our purpose here was intended to be…" Egon said.

"What, do you mean she didn't know?" Ray said dumbfounded. Egon stopped.

"Well, I didn't tell her…Margaret said from the start she didn't want us to capture her so it never came up." He grumbled. Ray blinked and then continued towards the back of the warehouse.

"Do you see her anywhere?" Ray asked. As they approached Melanie's workspace, Egon glanced up at the tower of boxes where she favored sitting but still couldn't spot the girl.

"Melanie, could you come out for a minute? We just want to talk." Egon called out. There was no sound except for the distant humming of the machines up front. Egon placed his bag onto the worktable next to the unopened boxes and pulled out his P.K.E. meter. It clicked on silently but made no move to give away Melanie's presence.

"Is it because I'm here?" Ray asked quietly. Egon shook his head.

"No…she's upset. Look at these readings." The meter was whirring slightly as he passed it near the large metal shelving near the garage door. Egon and Ray looked up at the shelves to see a box teetering dangerously close to the edge. The men had just enough time to leap out of the way before it was hurled down at them.

"Melanie, look…we're not here to hurt you. I just wanna find out why Egon can see you and I can't." Ray called up, trying to reason with her.

"Even I can't see her at the moment, Ray." Egon murmured.

"Go away."

Egon heard a voice call weakly from behind them. He whirled around with the meter and saw her floating up to her wall of boxes. He moved closer to the ghost, the P.K.E. meter blinking with tiny alarms. Ray stared at the device in amazement.

"Is she close?" He hissed. Egon nodded toward the tower of boxes. Ray squinted his eyes to try and see what Egon could, but the girl who was glaring down at them was invisible to him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Her voice was full of newfound distrust towards the Ghostbusters. Egon shut the meter off and handed it to Ray who took it distractedly.

"Tell you what?" Egon called up to her. The lights blinked overhead dangerously.

"What's she saying?" Ray asked, wanting badly to be in on the conversation. He stared at the table behind them and took a step away from it as the boxes on the tabletop trembled.

"You _catch_ ghosts." She floated above the box tower, staring down at the two men on the ground.

"Only the bad ones." Egon tried to reason.

"All of that research you were doing was just so you could figure out how to capture me, wasn't it?" She said accusingly. Ray stared up where Egon's gaze was fixed but still couldn't see anything. Frustrated, he flipped on the P.K.E. meter.

"No. Your boss wouldn't allow it. She likes having you around." Egon said calmly.

The fury in Melanie's gaze melted into misery. She slowly floated down to the floor in front of Egon and Ray. There was a loud pop and a clatter as the P.K.E. meter Ray was holding hit the ground after shocking him.

"No one else likes having me around though. You don't know what it's like." She whispered. Egon stared at the girl, wanting to somehow comfort her but he didn't know how.

"Where is she now, Egon?" Ray asked, rubbing his burnt hand. He had torn off his rubber glove, which had proven useless against the supernatural energy that had caused the meter to explode.

"I'm right here." Melanie murmured looking at Ray hopefully. Ray glanced up at Egon expectantly. Melanie's gaze flicked back to Egon.

"She's right in front of you, Ray." He said. Ray switched his gaze to the boxes in front of him, still seeing nothing.

"See what I mean?" Melanie cried out, exasperated. The boxes on the table were shoved to the ground with the force of her nerves. Egon reached out to steady her but she shoved him aside with another pulse of energy. Ray's eyes widened as he saw his friend fall to the ground by an unseen force.

"Melanie…could you try to show me something to let me know you're there? For some reason I still can't see you." Ray called out glancing around. Melanie stared at the man in concentration. She sent a pulse out in front of her and a box lifted from the tabletop and crashed back down loudly. As he turned around to look behind him, she reached forward and pressed a button on his proton pack. A loud humming noise sounded from the pack as it started up and Ray quickly jerked the neutrona wand out of its holster.

"Melanie, no!" Egon called as he scrambled up from the ground. Ray swung around and fired a proton stream towards the wall of boxes in front of him. Melanie dodged quickly out of the way as the boxes were blasted apart, some catching fire.

Melanie reappeared on the table behind them, staring wide eyed at the destruction in front of her. Ray kept shooting the stream, unable to stop it. Egon grabbed ahold of his pack and shoved the button Melanie had pressed. The stream immediately stopped, boxes falling from the ceiling.

"I-I'm sorry. I guess it was just a reflex…" Ray said breathlessly. Egon shook his head and turned back to see Melanie staring at him with fear in her eyes. The building shuddered around them and suddenly the sprinklers exploded with water to dowse the flames from Ray's proton streams. Before Egon could say anything to her, Melanie faded into the shadows around her.


	6. Chapter 6 Kicked Out

**Sorry this chapter's so short. I would combine it with the next one but it's from Melanie's perspective and I think it would be too confusing to put that side by side. So enjoy this teeny tiny little chapter!**

"Out. Get out, both of you!"

"Margaret, if you'll let us explain…" Ray stammered, trying persistently to convince the woman to listen. Margaret shook her head.

"Because of you, I have to close up shop for the next week! Do you have any idea how much damage you caused?!" Her voice was shaking with anger.

"If you'd only seen the other places we've caught ghosts in, ma'am, you'd think this was pretty minimal…" Ray said. Margaret's face was red with fury.

"I never asked you to catch her! We had no problems and she was perfectly fine until you all came along!" Margaret shoved the Ghostbusters out of the workroom and down the front hall toward the entrance.

"It was a misunderstanding!" Egon pleaded. The door slammed behind them, followed by the click of the lock. Ray ran a hand through his messy brown hair in frustration and walked toward the car. The parking lot was deserted save for Ecto-1 which Ray had parked crookedly in front of the door. Margaret had let the workers leave early after the destruction in the back of the warehouse.

Egon stared at the door, distraught. He couldn't believe how quickly the tides had turned. Melanie had been more than eager to answer his questions and now…

"You okay, Spengler?"

Egon turned away from the door and headed down the walkway to the car and dumped his equipment bag in the backseat. He didn't answer as Ray moved into the driver's seat and started the vehicle.

"We've lost our chance. Margaret will never let us back in there now." Egon stared at the dashboard in thought. Ray glanced over at him sympathetically.

"We'll find a way. Maybe she just needs time to cool down."

Egon looked up at his colleague, noticing that the 'she' he was talking about meant more than Margaret Wilson. Ray gave him a supportive smirk as he lit a cigarette and pulled the car out onto the road and towards the firehouse.


	7. Chapter 7 Melanie's Reflection

**I'd still really like to hear some feedback! Let me know what you guys think because I'm really starting to have some mixed feelings about continuing this story...**

I sat on my worktable staring at the sopping wet mess of cardboard and fabric scattered about on the warehouse floor. I kept running through the day in my head. Everything had happened so fast…I was overjoyed that Egon had come to visit me again and I was even looking forward to meeting his friend Ray formally. But at Brenda's harsh words…I had lost control.

 _When are you going to take her away? Isn't that what you Ghostbusters do?_

I clenched my hands into fists and squeezed my eyes shut, hearing the machines behind me groan and creak before going silent again. I opened my eyes slowly as I stared at my hands.

Ghostbusters. They captured ghosts, 'busted' ghosts. It was in the title. Why hadn't I overheard that? Surely Margaret had mentioned it to the other workers at some point before the men had been called to scout the place. Had my boss really been intending to get rid of me?

No…Egon had told me that she had wanted exactly the opposite. She liked having me around. But how could I trust what he'd said to me? Anything he had said to me could have been made up. He'd only wanted research on me so he could figure out the best way to capture me. And after seeing the damage that those…'proton packs'…could do…

I stared once more at the destruction in front of me. After a long grueling time of thinking of other possible weapons the Ghostbusters possessed, I moved to clean up some of the mess. But as I reached forward to pick through the cardboard, I heard the whole building shift around me.

I slowly turned and glanced warily up at the ceiling. I saw nothing but the shadows caused by the dimmed warehouse lights. It was early evening, and the building had been empty of people since Margaret had dismissed everyone after the Ghostbusters' unintended outburst.

I slumped back down to the table miserably. It had all been my fault. I realized I had been the one to cause the damage to Margaret's shipments. If I hadn't been so worked up, I wouldn't have lashed out like I had when I'd seen Ray's proton pack. My eyes blurred with the tears I couldn't cry. I flopped over onto the table laying my face in my arms. I lay like that for what felt like hours.

That was one thing I'd grown accustomed to – time didn't mean much anymore. I could work endlessly and tirelessly for days at a time. My mind could just seem to go blank for long periods of time and I would hardly notice. I could be like that for hours or even days and it had happened so often recently that it scared me. But, I realized, the few visits from the Ghostbusters had changed up my everyday afterlife and had also given me something to look forward to.

"Not anymore…" I whispered. I raised my head and blinked wearily as I could see the morning light shining from underneath the garage door. I really had been moping all night. I realized I felt I had been responsible for Margaret throwing the Ghostbusters out. I would never see them again.

I sank through the table and ended up on the concrete floor. The usual numbing cold I had forced myself to get used to was suddenly intensified. The building shifted again as if a fierce wind were about to tear it down. Fearful that my emotions had caused such a large disturbance I focused on controlling my energy and not destroying the other half of the building.


	8. Chapter 8 Two weeks later

"Get the trap Egon!" Winston shouted as he struggled to keep hold of the ghost that was fighting to free himself of the man's proton stream.

"One second…" Egon called back, clearly irritated.

They were in one of the fanciest restaurants in town. Several of the diners were hiding beneath overturned tables and chairs, their exits being blocked by the ghost. Francis Cunningham had been the founder of the restaurant over fifty years prior and had been recently haunting the place. He looked nothing like the picture Egon and Ray had found online, but Peter had reasoned that being dead really took a toll on a guy after a while.

Cunningham swiped a gnarled hand towards Winston, knocking him away with the force of it. Winston lost a grip on his proton blaster as he fell to the ground. Another stream quickly locked onto the ghost.

"Spengler, hurry up with that trap please!" Ray called. The ghost whirled on Ray who stepped back against the wall.

"I got ya, Ray!" Peter fired his own proton stream at the angry ghost inhibiting him from moving any closer to the other man. Winston jumped back to his feet and joined in the capture. Egon finally managed to untangle the trap and slid it out beneath the ghost. He slammed his foot down on the pedal and the ghost was absorbed in the bright flash of light.

"We got it!" Ray exclaimed. He rushed towards the trap and scooped it up.

"It's alright folks, everything is taken care of. You can all go back to your dinners now." Peter called out heroically to the crowd of people hesitantly standing up from their hiding spaces. A few looked around at the destruction the four men had caused as they had chased the ghost. The floor was riddled with spilled plates of food and drinks and broken dishes. Tables were flipped over and several broken pieces of furnishings scattered the room. The manager stepped forward, his usual neatly combed hair sticking up in some places.

"Is it gone?" He asked breathlessly, wringing his hands as he watched in dismay as the dinner crowd of people slowly walked out of the restaurant.

"Yeah, here's your bill." Peter said, tossing a piece of paper into the manager's grasp. He led the way out of the restaurant, shoulders slumped with exhaustion. Winston followed, replacing his blaster in its holster on his back. Ray nodded to the disheveled man as he carried the trap to the car outside. Egon double checked the room with his P.K.E. meter to make sure the ghost had been successfully trapped. His meter came up clean and he rushed out of the restaurant after the group.

"Did you see that woman's face when her soup blew up all over her date?" Winston asked, laughing as he got into the passenger side of Ecto-1. Ray grinned and nodded as he placed the trap in the back of the car.

"What about the guy who hid under the table and wouldn't let his wife under there? I thought he was very much the gentleman." Peter said. Winston laughed again.

"That was great." Ray said as he slid into the driver's seat.

"So how many does that make for today, Ray?" Winston asked referring to the number of ghosts they had busted. It had been another long day, with stops ranging all over the city. Ray started the car.

"One this morning at the Ice Cream parlor…two from that mansion on the outskirts of the city and then we caught the one here at the restaurant."

"Man, and this is one of the slower days we've had this week." Peter said. Egon nodded.

The rest of the drive back to the firehouse was spent in tired silence. When the Ghostbusters pulled up to the building, Janine rushed out the front door to meet them as they piled out of the car.

"There's a phone call for you, she says it's really urgent." Janine said. Ray jogged into the building and to Janine's desk where the phone lay off the hook.

"Hello?" He said.

"Is this Dr. Stantz?" He heard a woman's voice.

"Yes it is, what seems to be the trouble?" He asked.

"This is Margaret Wilson, with the Wilson Embroidery Warehouse? Um…I don't know what you guys did to our resident ghost, but there have been some major things going on here the past few days. We thought we could see past them at first, but it's starting to get really out of hand…"

"What do you mean? What's happened?" Ray asked, hearing the alarm in the woman's voice.

"Well…I've had to replace almost every single one of the lights in here at least once a day and then yesterday she ruined one of my most expensive machines. Brenda was the one working on it at the time…" Margaret trailed off, clearly frustrated.

"Who is it?" Egon asked as he walked into the room. Ray just glanced at him before going back to the conversation.

"Well what do you want us to do about it? You kicked us out!" Ray exclaimed. He heard Margaret sigh over the phone.

"Yes I know. But I can't afford to replace everything in the warehouse…which looks like the only alternative."

"So…?" Ray asked, leading the woman onto her proposition. She hesitated for a moment.

"As fond as I am of the poor girl…I want her gone." She muttered. Ray cringed at her harsh words. He talked to her for a few more minutes, ending the call with the promise that they would head over there first thing in the morning.

As he hung up the phone, he looked up at Egon who had figured out who Ray had been talking to. Egon was silent for a long time.

"Spengler…if you don't want to go, we'll understand." Ray said gently. Egon shook his head stubbornly.

"None of you can even see her. You can't do the job without my help." He said simply. He marched up the stairs to stash his equipment. Peter and Winston came into the building towing the several ghost-filled traps in their arms.

"What's with him?" Peter asked nonchalantly.

"We just got a call from Margaret Wilson. Melanie's causing quite a disturbance over there this week and…"

"And she's finally agreed to let us do our job?" Winston finished for him. Ray nodded.

"Poor guy…" Peter said, glancing up the stairs where Egon was disappearing into the small apartment on the top half of the firehouse.


	9. Chapter 9 Back to the Warehouse

**Hey everbody! Sorry I haven't uploaded anything in a few days...I went on a retreat with my church's youth group. Snow tubing and all that great stuff. Anyways, I came up with plenty more to add to the story and I really hope you enjoy it! I think I really poured my heart into this chapter :)**

They pulled up in front of the warehouse for the first time in weeks. A feeling of dread settled over Egon as they headed toward the building. Margaret had left it unlocked for the men, not wanting to be there in person to see what kind of damage they would cause in attempting to catch the ghost.

"So Ray…what's our approach?" Winston asked softly. Ray turned back to Egon as if to ask his opinion. Egon cleared his throat.

"I think I should go in first. Maybe if I talk to her she'll be more willing to come with us." He said. He knew it was a lost cause but he had to act like he knew what he was doing. He hated the wary glances the other three Ghostbusters gave him as he stepped into the building.

All of the lights were out. The front end of the building was only illuminated by the morning sunlight filtering in through the few windows along the wall. He paused at the closed door that led to the warehouse and workroom. He could hear a loud rattling noise on the other side of the door and he hesitantly turned the doorknob, letting himself into the workroom.

He peered into the dimly lit workroom, seeing a single machine with a small fluorescent light running to the left of the room. Several shirts were on the machine, being embroidered. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, as if one of the regular workers were here doing their job. Egon glanced up as he saw a pile of shirts moving on the wide wooden table beside the machine. He stepped forward, imagining that Melanie was manipulating the shirts in the work area. She was invisible to him, which was no surprise.

"Hello?" He called softly. There was no reply. The shirts continued slowly folding themselves and stacking at the end of the table. The machine hummed loudly as Egon crept forward. He placed a hand on the table to steady himself as he prepared for his encounter with Melanie, not knowing how she would react. He looked to the spot where he knew she stood, moving the shirts back and forth lazily.

One striped black and white polo shirt lifted itself from the table and unfolded itself. As it moved back down to the table, the shirt fell to the floor. Egon bent to pick it back up and was struck with what felt like a small static shock as his fingers brushed the fabric of the shirt. The machine next to him exploded in a flash of sparks and went dead. He jerked his hand away quickly and saw a female hand slowly melt into view, grasping the shirt. His eyes trailed up her arm and to her face.

"Melanie." He said softly. Her eyes were wide with confusion.

"E-Egon?" She stammered, finally recognizing him. He smiled slightly. She slowly released the shirt and straightened herself. He did the same, noticing that he stood a foot taller than she did. He glanced at the floor and saw that she wasn't floating like she normally did. His eyes moved back to her face and his smile wavered.

She looked more ghostly than the last time he'd seen her. She was now almost transparent and there was a tinge of blue around her making her appear to glow strangely. She had a haunted look on her face but it brightened a bit as she studied him.

"H-how long has it been?" She asked slowly. He blinked.

"Almost two weeks. Why?" He couldn't hide his concern. He wanted desperately to whip out his P.K.E. meter to measure the frequencies in the room but knew that she was fragile and needed time to warm up to him again.

"It…it just seems like it's been so much longer than that…" she whispered, her eyes glazing over slightly as she looked across the room.

"What do you mean?" He asked as gently as he could. He stole a quick glance at the door behind him, knowing that Ray, Peter and Winston were waiting outside.

"Things are different here now." She said as she seemed to scan the warehouse with her dazed eyes. He looked around cautiously too but didn't see anything.

"Different, how?" He pressed her. She turned slowly back to him.

"I don't know how to explain it." She said. Her eyes bore into his and there was a small sense of longing in them. "Egon…please hold me."

Egon looked down at the girl in bewilderment. Her eyes were pleading and her face was missing the light pink rosiness it had possessed when he'd first seen her. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I…I don't think that's physically possible, Melanie." He said. Her shoulders slumped and she scoffed.

"Fine, then I'll hold you." She said a little stubbornly. Egon froze as she moved closer towards him and wrapped her ghostly arms around his torso. Surprised that he could feel the contact at all, he stared down at her in puzzled curiosity.

"Melanie…how are you…?"

"It's like you said. I can manipulate inanimate objects, like clothing. I do it all the time." She said. He noticed that she wasn't touching his skin, just the beige uniform he was wearing. He nodded slowly in understanding.

"Incredible." He whispered. He heard Melanie giggle slightly as she nestled into his chest.

"Everything okay in here, Egon?"

Egon jumped slightly as Peter's voice echoed from the entrance hallway. Melanie yanked herself away from Egon as the other three Ghostbusters filed into the room hesitantly.

"There you are. You took so long, we got worried." Ray said, relieved. Winston was the last to enter the room, carrying his proton blaster at the ready. Melanie stood frozen next to Egon as she stared at the men who, like Egon were clad in their uniforms and loaded with their equipment.

"Everything is fine. I was just talking to our ghost." Egon said calmly. Ray's face lit up slightly with excitement.

"You mean she's here? You got her to show up? That's great!" He exclaimed. Melanie swung her gaze to Egon, mistrust in her eyes. She backed away from him slowly. He could tell that she was wary that all of the men had showed up for this visit.

"Well, where is she?" Winston asked his eyes scanning the space in front of him. Egon didn't answer. Melanie was turning away from the group of Ghostbusters as if she was about to flee.

"Woah!" Ray said as he whirled around to the shelves behind him. They were stacked with containers filled with different colored spools of thread. What had once been neatly organized sections of thread was now replaced with flying spools, some going so far as to strike the men.

Egon swung back to see Melanie slowly disappearing. She turned away from him quickly but he reached forward as if to keep her there. He involuntarily grasped for her hand just as it was fading into the shadows. He felt the small static shock he had felt only moments before, only this time it was accompanied with a burning sensation that spread up through his arm and to the rest of his body. He managed to bite back his surprised cry before everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10 Losing Control

**I've actually had this part written down for a few weeks now. I think it's one of my favorite parts of this story so far. I made it up at work of all places. It was when they had first moved me to running my own machine and I was trying to entertain myself as I worked alone. Now they've got me running and embroidering belts on a new machine...at the very front of the warehouse. :) My hands have been hurting me all week, but that definitely hasn't stopped me from writing. I had some writer's block after my trip this weekend but that was easily taken care of when i just dived right in and wrote like 20 more pages Tuesday and Wednesday. So there's a lot more to come, I promise! Anyways this is a longer chapter, I know but hopefully you'll enjoy it.**

"Egon? Please…can you hear me? You have to wake up…"

He could hear a voice in the distance but couldn't seem to force his eyes open. His head felt fuzzy and his body felt like it weighed a ton.

A cold tingly feeling appeared on his forehead and then suddenly he was startled awake by the sensation. He saw Melanie jerk her hand back from his face.

"Thank God…" She said clearly relieved. She was looking at him worriedly, all previous hostility long-gone. "Are you okay?"

Egon sat up quickly, grimacing as he felt the beginnings of a really bad migraine. He squeezed his eyes shut and then reopened them.

He was still in the embroidery warehouse, only…it was different. The colors of the room around them had all but disappeared, a deep blue smoky tinge taking their place. He was on the hard floor of the warehouse, next to the table where Melanie had been working. Everything was serenely quiet.

"Egon?"

He glanced up to see Melanie's expectant face. She was more solid now, but the blue glow was still around her.

"What happened?" He finally got out. She shook her head.

"I'm not sure."

He thought back, trying to get past the fuzzy feeling in his head. Melanie raised her hand to his face once more and he could feel the cold radiating from her. He drew back slightly trying to conceal the shiver that raced through him.

"You were disappearing…" He finally said. She blinked at him.

"You touched me as I was fading away." She confirmed. He looked around.

"So where are we?"

"This is where I go when I'm not trying to make myself visible to anyone."

"Muted colors and noises…it's like your own little ghost dimension. It's peaceful." He said in deep thought. Melanie met his gaze slowly.

"You could say that. It's just stifling to me." She smiled halfheartedly but her eyes remained sad.

"How was I able to come with you?" Egon asked, for once confused. His mind was still blurry. Melanie shrugged. Egon suddenly remembered the electrifying pain he'd felt before he had passed out. His eyes widened slightly.

"No…you're not dead." She laughed. "I'm sure of that."

Egon relaxed. Melanie still floated next to him, curled up with her knees to her chest. He looked at his surroundings once more, noticing how different everything looked, yet all of the proper aspects of the regular dimension were there.

"What's that up there?" He finally asked. He pointed up to the shadows in the far away ceiling. Melanie followed his arm and her gaze landed on the ceiling. She stared at it for a long moment and then looked back down at him.

"Just the shadows. This warehouse looks a little spooky in the dark." She explained. Egon's gaze lingered up there for a second longer and then he looked back down at Melanie. He was about to say something before loud voices echoed distortedly throughout the warehouse.

 _"_ _Egon?"_

 _"_ _Spengler, where are you?"_

Egon looked up at the sudden voices. He could see Ray, Peter and Winston searching around the room for him. He met Melanie's gaze once more before moving to stand up. Melanie gently grabbed his arm which he thought was strange until he went lightheaded and sank to the ground once more.

"Careful!" She said calmly. She glanced back up at the three Ghostbusters. "This is too much for you…I've got to get you back to your friends…"

"They really can't see us?" Egon asked, shaking his head to clear away the fuzziness there.

"No. We're in a different dimension. Are you ready to cross back over?" Melanie asked. She still had a grip on his arm. Egon nodded as she helped him to stand. The lightheaded feeling threatened to return. Melanie offered him her hand and he hesitantly placed his in her palm. The static shock came back full on but he forced himself to stay on his feet. The blue fogginess blurred back into the usual dim colors around him and he slumped to the ground as Melanie's grip loosened on him.

"There you are! What happened? Where did you go?" Ray ran over to his friend and knelt next to him. Egon stared at the ground, mystified as the groggy feeling he'd had in the other dimension slowly ebbed away.

"Egon, you okay? What'd she do to you?" Peter asked.

"I'm fine, Venkman. Just…still struggling to comprehend what just happened." Egon said as he took Peter's hand and stood up.

"It's been almost half an hour! We were looking everywhere!" Ray said. Egon looked over to Melanie quizzically. She was silently staring back and forth at each of the men, a contemplating look on her face.

"She took me to the ghost dimension. Unintentionally, of course." Egon explained. Ray's excitement returned.

"Wow! The living can cross over too…I can't believe this!" Ray looked Egon over. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No…it felt strange though…like I couldn't think properly." Egon said, his eyebrows pinched together in thought.

"Can she do it again?" Ray asked. Egon looked at him warily and then turned to Melanie. Melanie's eyes were wide with worry and she hastily shook her head.

"It was unintentional. I don't think she's willing to try that again." Egon said for her. Her eyes still remained slightly panicked.

"So…are we gonna sit here and talk about her all day or…?" Peter asked, breaking the two other scientists up. Ray and Egon suddenly remembered their primary goal for this trip to the warehouse. Egon turned back to Melanie.

"Melanie…" He said calmingly. She shook her head and drew back. Ray, Peter and Winston all drew their particle throwers in preparation.

"Wait." Egon said standing in front of his colleagues and the ghost girl they couldn't see. He couldn't believe he was standing in the way of their mission. "She's harmless, I know she is. What if I can prove it?"

"Egon…" Ray started warningly. Egon fixed him with an icy stare.

"If we can prove she's not hostile and leave knowing that she'll control the telekinetic energy she puts out, maybe Margaret will give her another chance." Egon suggested.

"You really don't want us messing with your girl, do ya Egon?" Peter teased. Egon frowned.

"I don't know if I can…" Melanie squeaked from behind him. Egon turned around. Melanie was floating barely a foot above the ground, looking translucent once more. She met his eyes.

"What?" He asked cautiously.

"I don't know if I can control it anymore. Do you think I make these things happen on purpose?" She gestured at the ruined machine next to her. Egon looked at the machine and the scorch marks that had appeared on it when the machine had sparked and short circuited from her energy pulse. He glanced back to her slowly.

"What do you mean? Of course you can. Just try and show these guys that you're in control." He said supportively.

Melanie held his gaze for a few seconds before scanning the room and letting her gaze rest on a stack of boxes against the wall next to the ruined machine. Egon turned back to usher his friends to his side. Ray stepped forward, still holding his particle blaster at the ready.

"Watch this." Egon said as he pointed to the boxes.

Melanie stared fixedly at the stacks of boxes filled with unembroidered clothing. The Ghostbusters watched with expectation as the boxes slowly trembled and then fell silent. After a moment, Melanie turned back to Egon, frustrated.

"I can't do it… there's…the pressure's too much." She floated down to the ground, her transparent feet seeming to graze the cement floor. Egon pointed to the worktable where the pile of shirts she had been handling lay.

"Try that. Just start small." He encouraged. She wearily turned to the table and studied the shirts for a long moment. She raised her right hand towards the pile of clothing and felt her chest tighten as the stack of shirts rose slowly into the air. She flexed her fingers and the shirts scattered from the neat stack and separated into a circle floating above the Ghostbusters' heads.

"Wow…" Ray said, mystified. He was staring up at the coordinated spinning, a smile tugging at his lips.

"She can do tricks." Peter said, only slightly impressed. Winston was watching the show in front of him with silent awe.

The shirts flew back together with the speed of light and then landed neatly back where they had been sitting on the table seconds before. Before Egon could say anything else, Melanie swung her firm gaze back to the stacks of boxes against the wall and smirked in triumph as they blew apart forcibly towards the four men. They each cried out in surprise, expecting the boxes to hit them but Melanie stopped them within a few feet of where they were standing. The heavy cardboard boxes floated in midair, completely under Melanie's control.

"Let me just make sure there's no little black wires holding these guys up…" Peter said slowly as he shifted his particle blaster to his left hand and waved his right over the nearest box in front of him. Finding nothing above or beneath the floating box, he gently poked the side of the box and watched as it floated slowly the opposite way with the force of his push.

"Wow…" Ray repeated himself.

"Uh…why are we not recording any of this stuff? Isn't that what you usually do?" Winston nudged Ray who jerked out of his daze.

"Oh…right…uh…" Ray holstered his proton blaster and reached for the small video camera he kept around his neck. He switched it on and watched as Peter walked slowly around the work area poking and prodding the floating boxes.

"This is incredible!" Ray exclaimed. Egon was focusing on Melanie who was watching Peter carefully as he stepped up to each box. She seemed slightly calmer now that she was in control and the blue glow around her shone a little brighter. She caught his stare and suddenly each of the floating boxes wavered slightly. She caught them before they hit the ground and returned them back to the stacks against the wall.

Melanie strolled a little closer to the group of men, a small satisfied smile on her face. She looked expectantly at Egon waiting for his decision.

"What do you think Ray?" Egon asked. Ray was looking at his camera, obviously making sure he'd caught everything on tape.

"Huh? Oh…well um…" Ray glanced up at Egon and shifted his gaze to Peter and Winston who each gave each other wary looks.

"I think she'll be okay…" Peter started. He was interrupted when the stack of boxes exploded more forcibly from the wall than before. The Ghostbusters ducked again, and the boxes clattered against the already disturbed shelves of thread with a loud clang.

Egon swung his gaze to Melanie who looked just as baffled at the unexpected outburst. She looked down at her hands in confusion and then looked back at the mess of broken boxes.

"Ow…" Winston said climbing back to his feet.

"What'd she do that for? We were ready for her to go free!" Peter exclaimed, annoyed. Ray picked up his fallen camera and switched it on as the thread shelves tremored uncontrollably.

"Melanie…what are you doing…?" Egon asked under his breath. Melanie shook her head at him, wide eyed. She fixed her gaze on the worktable in front of her as a box of clippers, scissors and needles slowly levitated into the air. She stared in horror as it built up speed and was hurled towards the four men across the workspace. Winston and Peter ducked out of the way as the box suddenly flipped over, scattering the sharp objects into the air.

"NO!" Melanie screamed, raising her hand involuntarily. Ray was in the direct path of the debris. She flicked her wrist and a fallen cardboard box flew between him and the oncoming sharp objects. There was a heart stopping moment as each of the scissors, needles and clippers stabbed into the box that was shielding the man. When the box fell to the ground with an echoing thud, Ray was curled up into a ball. After a moment, he realized that the danger was over and glanced down at the impaled box at his feet. He looked up at Egon fearfully.

"Egon…?" Peter asked as he stepped in front of the tall man. Egon looked down at him warily. "What is your girlfriend doing?"

Egon glanced at the table where the neat stacks of shirts slid off the table in disorderly piles. Papers flew from the tabletop as if a strong wind were blasting through the room. The machines in the work area were buzzing uncontrollably, sparks flying.

"Melanie, you have to stop!" Egon shouted over the uproar. Melanie was watching with dismay at everything going on around her. Boxes flew towards the Ghostbusters, knocking them off their feet.

"It's not me!" She screamed back. She thrust her hands out towards the Ghostbusters as another wave of boxes threatened to hit them. She was able to stop the heavy boxes within a few feet of the cowering men and send them flying back against the wall.

"Spengler, look out!" Ray cried as he fired his proton stream past Egon. A huge stack of boxes was flying straight for him and Ray managed to blast it apart before it reached him. Winston and Peter took up his lead and fired their beams at some of the flying debris.

"Egon, where is she? You're the only one who can see the ghost. We've got to stop her!" Winston called out as he shot down a falling fluorescent light fixture. The lights exploded in a flash of sparks.

"Egon, it's not me, I swear!" Melanie cried out as she sent another pulse out towards the men to shove them to the ground out of the way as a shelf collapsed over them. Winston, Ray and Peter while on their backs shot towards the falling shelf and it broke apart easily with the force of their proton streams.

"Little help, Egon!" Ray shouted as he searched around for Melanie. Egon stood powerless between his friends and the ghost girl. Every time something flew towards the Ghostbusters she would try to divert it. Why would she try to prevent them harm if she was causing the harm in the first place?

"Just aim for where he's looking! He's not gonna help us!" Peter called. He swung his proton stream to the direction Egon was facing. Melanie's eyes widened and she dove out of the way as the blast hit the already short circuited machine behind her. A flash of sparks burst from the machine and flames erupted around it. Egon flew back into the worktable to avoid the explosion. Another blast shot past him and he shouted for Melanie once more.

"Egon please, tell them to stop! I promise you…I'm not doing this!"

Egon jerked away quickly. Melanie had reappeared next to him, underneath the table. Her eyes were pleading and there was a wild look in them. He was about to say something when he was yanked to his feet.

"Come on Egon, we need you here!" Peter said. He slapped Egon's face lightly.

A stream shot towards the worktable and Melanie once again flew out of its path. The lights in the room all flickered dangerously, brightening the room and then dulling it to almost blindness. The machines were still sputtering violently, and the Ghostbusters had to duck to avoid the sparks and dislodged machinery as it flew past them.

Time stopped then. Egon slowly swung his gaze to where Melanie stood at the door to the front entrance. She was flinging her hands out in front of her, trying to once again gain control over the chaos around her. Egon knew what he had to do. He slowly reached up for the neutrino wand in its holster on his back. He charged it up and fired.

"There!" Ray shouted as he swung his blast to meet with Egon's. Melanie stared at Egon in horror as she was suddenly entrapped in the streams. Winston and Peter shot their own streams forward and Ray took his away as he reached for the trap attached to his proton pack. He threw it out to where Egon and Peter were holding Melanie immobilized at the door.

"Please…don't do this…" Melanie cried. The machines all sparked and exploded into silence and the overhead lights burst shrouding them all in darkness. The only light was from the Ghostbusters' proton streams. Ray slammed the trap open and Melanie disappeared in a flash of purple.


	11. Chapter 11 Captured

**Sorry if this one is kinda bad...this is about where I had some writer's block. But it gets better after this. I think I'll put the next chapter up this afternoon just to compensate for this one. I'm going in to work this morning to embroider some more shirts! We got a huge shipment on Friday and I'm a little overwhelmed to be honest. But that just gives me more ideas for this story, so I'm up for it. I'll see you guys this afternoon. :)**

There was the brightest flash of light that I had ever seen as the bonds that were holding me suddenly burst free. I was surrounded by darkness. Nothing felt real around me as I lay there, afraid to move. I couldn't get Egon's expression out of my mind as he had fired the weapon on his back. My mind had been a rush of mixed emotions but the most overwhelming one was fear.

I had always been able to tell when I was in control of the things happening in the warehouse. But tonight's disaster had been totally unlike anything I'd ever been capable of conjuring up. I had no idea what had happened. Ray had almost gotten killed because of it!

I felt tears well up in my eyes and I closed them. I hated the illusion my mind created to make me feel like I was crying. Ghosts can't cry…they're not physical beings. But sometimes…I missed being able to feel the tears running down my cheeks.

 _"_ _There ya go, Spengler! I knew you'd come through!"_

I glanced up to where I could hear the voice. One of the other Ghostbusters, Peter sounded from somewhere above me. Though I couldn't see anything, I felt like I was still in the room with them, but my senses were dulled. My head was full of confusion and I squinted through the darkness trying to see anything.

 _"_ _I'm sorry, Egon. You know there was no other way around it."_ I heard Ray say in a low voice. I waited expectantly for a hint of Egon's voice but it never came.

 _"_ _Whatever weird stuff was going on seems to have stopped now. I think it really was connected to her."_ Winston's voice carried down to me.

It was true. When the bright flash of light had consumed me, the machines and flying objects had stopped instantly. Maybe I really was somehow at fault for the dangers that had happened in the Ghostbusters' presence. I just couldn't accept the fact that I was able to concoct that much energy at once. I had never before been able to do anything that powerful.

But then again…I'd never tried.

I attempted to think back to what the last two weeks had been like. I had been moping around for the most part and I hadn't been back to the front of the building where the other women had worked before this morning. I had just felt like I needed a change from the cardboard boxes stacked up in the back of the warehouse. I had been running a machine by myself for most of the early hours of the morning and then I had slipped into what Egon had called the ghost dimension. My mind was totally blank as I had worked through box after box of shirts to be embroidered. Everything had been fine and then a shirt had slid off the table and to the floor. Then suddenly Egon had broken me out of my endless daze.

I slumped back into the nothingness around me, feeling a cloud of grief surround whatever cramped area I was in.

 _"_ _Is everything clear in here now, Egon?"_ Ray's voice broke the silence. I could faintly hear Egon's little meter measuring device twittering wildly.

 _"_ _That's just because he's holding the trap in his other hand. The warehouse is all clean. Let's head out."_ Peter's voice sounded far away like he was leaving the room.

 _"_ _I'll call Margaret when we get back to headquarters and tell her Melanie's gone. She might need to think about closing down for a while though…"_

I cringed at Ray's words. How much damage had I unintentionally caused? I sank down further into my guilt, feeling shaky with the overwhelming weight of it all.

Suddenly I heard a car engine start up. I froze in disbelief. I was outside of the embroidery warehouse for the first time in over two years. Then I looked around and reminded myself that I was still trapped. Darkness seemed to suffocate me. I began to grow fearful as the Ghostbusters left the building.

What would they do with me? What did they do with the other ghosts they captured? My mind came up with hundreds of terrifying scenarios as I sat curled in a tight ball, unable to do anything but wait for whatever was to come.


	12. Chapter 12 Back at the Firehouse

**Guys...you don't know how much I'm struggling to keep myself from posting everything I have on here. This isn't even half of what I've got! I've really been on a roll with my writing this past week and I think I'm getting close to the climactic ending...but anyways. Work was productive today for the most part and I kid you not...the lights on my machine blinked once this afternoon. You can bet I almost flipped out...I was about ready to call the Ghostbusters!**

The Ghostbusters arrived back at the firehouse in time to order a few pizzas for lunch. Egon had no appetite though. His conscience had been bothering him for the whole ride back to their headquarters. The other three Ghostbusters had been weary to talk to him too much on the way home, so they had made light conversation between themselves as Egon repeatedly thought through what had taken place at the warehouse.

"Egon! Pizza's here. You want some?" Ray was coming from the door where he had just paid the pizza guy and he was holding two huge steaming pizza boxes. Egon shook his head slowly as he headed to the basement where the ghost containment unit was kept. He stopped at the top of the stairs. He could feel Ray's eyes on him as he hesitated.

"I could get Pete or Winston to do it if you don't feel up to it…" Ray said gently. Egon glanced at the steps in front of him and shook his head once more. Then, not wanting to look too weak in front of his colleague, he descended the stairs.

Once down there, he stopped at the containment unit and studied the blinking lights on it. After warring with himself about whether or not to put Melanie into the unit with all of those other violent ghosts, he gently set the trap on the table and stepped away from it. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the trap in front of him. He couldn't imagine poor, defenseless Melanie fighting through the murderous ghosts in the containment unit for all eternity.

"Okay Melanie…I don't usually do this…" Egon stepped forward after a long moment, looking back at the staircase for any sign of the other Ghostbusters. They were all occupied by the pizza upstairs to notice that Egon was about to release the ghost they had just caught. He took the trap off of the table and set it gently on the ground at his feet. He took the pedal in his hand and clicked it open. He averted his eyes as the flash of purple light brightened the dim basement room. When the lights went back to normal, the room was silent. Egon looked at the open trap expectantly, but Melanie was nowhere to be seen.

"You know…I had a lot of time to think while I was in the dark nothingness of that box."

Egon turned slowly to see that Melanie lay on her back casually blinking up at the basement ceiling. He looked back down at the trap and closed it. He picked it up and began wrapping the cord neatly around his arm.

"I tried to figure out why I'm still here. After over two years of being dead, I'm still working in that dirty old warehouse." Her voice was quiet and calm. Her eyes were focused on the ceiling; she still hadn't looked at Egon.

"Most spirits remain here because of unfinished business." Egon said slowly. Melanie shook her head, still staring thoughtfully upward.

"No, I already ruled that suggestion out. If my unfinished business was working endlessly day and night with no pay, I think I would've cleared that up long before now."

Egon stepped closer to the table and the ghost girl in front of him. She was still transparent looking, but the slight blush of her cheeks had returned. She caught him staring and her eyes moved from the ceiling to his face.

"Maybe your unfinished business is something else. Like… like…" Egon trailed off as she met his gaze. Her eyes begged him to finish his sentence but after a moment she glanced away from him, a little hurt in her face.

"Yeah. Maybe." She said quietly.

"Melanie…I'm sorry."

Melanie stared back up at Egon with hope filled eyes. He looked at the ground uncomfortably.

"Why did you do it, then?" She asked quietly.

"I was afraid." He said simply. Her eyes hardened.

"Afraid of me? I've never intentionally hurt you. I would never hurt anyone, I kept telling you that!" Melanie insisted. Egon looked up at her calmly.

"I was afraid…for you. After you were locked up in the trap, I took more readings of the room. I don't think you were the only thing haunting that warehouse."

Melanie froze and her gaze softened. She sat up slowly and studied him at eye level.

"What do you mean?" She whispered, fear trickling into her voice. Egon pulled out his P.K.E. meter and pressed a few buttons.

"The meter shows that something far more dangerous was occupying the space while we were there. Far more stronger than you." He held up the device for her to see, but Melanie ignored it, still staring levelly at Egon's face.

"I knew there was something off in the warehouse for the past few weeks. How did it get there? What is it?" She was fearful now. Egon moved closer towards her, setting the meter on the table beside her.

"I don't know. I didn't get a chance to look around much longer after…" He looked at the trap. "The guys weren't too worried about it. Maybe now that you're out of the way it'll go away in peace. There's no way to tell right now."

"But…what about Margaret? What if she gets hurt?" Melanie's voice was full of panic.

"I don't think she's in any danger. I was just worried about you. You say that you started feeling this way about two weeks ago?" Egon moved to sit on the tabletop next to Melanie.

"Yes. It was the night you and Ray came to the warehouse and I…" She swung her gaze to him. "…lost control."

"I suppose the heavy emotional strain in the environment could've had an effect on the warehouse but why would another ghost be drawn to it? Did you see anything strange?"

"No. I never saw anyone else."

"I'll say something to Ray. Maybe we'll go by next week for a follow up." Egon said. Melanie turned her head to look at him.

"I don't want…"

"Egon, what's taking so long? If you don't hurry up, your two slices of pizza are mine!"

Melanie's voice was cut off as Egon heard Peter coming down the stairs to the basement. Melanie inadvertently leaped off of the table and stepped behind it as the other man entered the room. Egon turned towards the containment unit trying to look like he had been busy.

"What are you doing? The pizza's getting cold." Peter said, stopping at the bottom of the stairs and staring boredly at Egon. Egon slowly turned to face him, fiddling with his P.K.E. meter.

"I was just making sure everything was functioning properly down here." He pocketed the device and moved towards the stairs. Peter didn't look satisfied with his answer.

"Alright, where is she?" He asked, stopping Egon before he could walk up the staircase. Egon took a step backwards, a shocked look on his face. Peter crossed his arms, blocking Egon's path awaiting his answer. Finally Egon's shoulders slumped. He gestured over at the table where Melanie stood defensively.

"Egon!" Melanie shrieked, worried that Peter would do something to put her back in the little black box on the table. But Peter made no move towards the ghost. He merely glanced to where Egon had pointed and then switched his gaze back to Egon.

"You know, with my not being able to see her, it really feels like you've got an imaginary friend or something."

"I realize that, Venkman. Thank you." Egon said, glancing amusedly at Melanie. Melanie had relaxed somewhat but she made no move to leave the safety of the table.

"Maybe you can throw a bedsheet over her head and take her to that Halloween party Louis invited us to tomorrow night. Ghost and Ghostbusters…it'd be funny." Peter smirked and turned around and ascended the stairs. Egon frowned and looked at the ground.

"Wait…tomorrow is Halloween?" Melanie had moved to Egon's side in a flash after Peter had gone.

"Yes. Louis Tully is throwing a Halloween party for his clients and asked for a special appearance by the Ghostbusters. Provided that we aren't busy of course." Egon explained. Melanie looked thoughtful.

"Maybe I could go with you…" She murmured quietly. Egon looked at her and shook his head.

"I'm not sure that's possible. I was astonished that we were able to take you out of the warehouse. You've been trapped there ever since your death, but maybe that proves that your boundaries can change." Egon speculated. Melanie looked up at him with her eyes bright. She smiled slightly.

"Want to test that?" She asked playfully. She flew up the stairs, much to Egon's surprise and he rushed to keep up with her. He reached the ground floor of the building, but Melanie was nowhere to be seen. He stood on the spot scanning the room for the ghost girl.

"Egon, is something wrong?" Egon jumped at the voice. It was just Janine sitting at her desk reading a magazine. He blinked and cleared his throat. He walked over to her desk, still looking around.

"No, I just misplaced something…"

"Oh. Well, I probably wouldn't know where it is. You have so many gadgets around here I don't know what's what." Janine smirked and looked back down at her magazine. Egon looked up once more and caught sight of Melanie as she materialized at the giant front door to the firehouse. He slowly jogged over to her, trying to look nonchalant in case Janine happened to glance up again.

"There you are. I was-" Egon was shushed by Melanie as she studied the worn wood of the door. She hesitantly reached out and pressed her palm to the doorframe. Egon looked at the door curiously. After a few seconds the force of her push showed as the door swung outward.

"Here goes nothing…" Melanie said softly as she reached her arm through the doorway into the midday sunlight. As her hand went through the open doorway, it disappeared. She gasped and then jerked her hand back into the firehouse. She looked at it confusedly then glanced up at Egon. His eyebrows were raised.

"I guess that confirms my theory." He said. She nodded, still shaken by the realization. Egon reached past her and closed the door once more. He turned and led the way to the upstairs apartment/lab. Melanie floated after him, stopping at the bottom of the stairs to glance at Janine. The secretary didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, but she flashed a worried look at Egon as he walked up the steps.

"There you are, Egon! What took so long?" Winston was sitting at the small table in the kitchenette finishing up a soda. Ray stood over at the computer, immersed in his research. Peter was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Spengler come over here real quick. I tweaked the little translator device you'd been working on and I think I've got it functioning again." Ray called, without looking up. Melanie followed hesitantly as Egon crossed the room. She stared at the screen that Ray was looking at, but saw nothing but a wavy blue line across the computer.

"What is that thing?" Melanie asked Egon. She nearly jumped back as the wavy line leaped across the screen like a heart monitor. Ray froze and squinted at the screen confusedly.

"That's strange. It didn't do that before you came over here." Ray said. Egon looked down at Melanie who was staring transfixed at the screen.

"Say something again." He whispered just so she could hear him. She glanced up at him nervously and looked back down at the computer in front of Ray.

"H-hello?"

The meter on the screen flipped out again and Ray pressed a few of the buttons on the device Egon had built.

"Again." Egon said softly, his eyes locked on the screen. Melanie frowned but kept her gaze on the screen too.

"What do you want me to say?"

Her words were typed almost as quickly as she said them onto the screen in large blue letters. Ray jumped back from the computer, a triumphant smile on his face.

"Do you see that? We've got it working!" He laughed and Egon smiled, equally excited. Then Ray looked back at the screen and the letters there. "Wait…where did that come from?"

"Melanie." Egon said simply, still staring at the computer screen. Ray turned to look at Egon in disbelief.

"What?" Ray asked, not sure he had heard his friend correctly. Egon opened his mouth to reply but Melanie beat him to it.

"He let me out of the box. You know you should really keep an eye on him sometimes."

Ray looked at the screen as her words were typed out onto the screen. His eyebrows were raised in astonishment. He turned back to Egon who had a slight smirk on his face.

"This is amazing! We finally can communicate with her!" Ray exclaimed. He was looking down at the device in his hands. "We just need to make a better version, but this prototype isn't too bad for now."

"So you're not mad at him for letting the ghost out of the box after we spent the better part of the morning trying to catch her?" Winston asked, joining the two scientists at the computer table. Ray glanced up at Winston and shook his head.

"Nah…she just helped us figure out the frequencies we needed for this new toy, here." Ray held up the device proudly. Egon swiped it out of his hand.

"Be careful with that. I don't want you to break it and ruin all of our work by pulling out that wire." He readjusted the cable that connected it to the computer screen.

Melanie was glowing with excitement. She finally could communicate with the other Ghostbusters! For over two years, no one had been able to hear her. Now that Egon had come along, she finally had a way to let everyone else know she was there.

"I don't have to go back in the box…do I?" Melanie asked. Egon fixed his gaze on her, an eyebrow raised. He smiled jokingly.

"No."

Ray looked at the screen as her question appeared. He laughed as Egon's response registered to him. He looked at his friend who seemed to be looking at the wall but he knew Melanie was standing there, invisible to him.

"Maybe we could run a few tests since we can get her responses now. This is one of the best ideas you've ever had, Egon." Ray said. Egon smirked with pride.

"But…aren't I the first ghost you haven't been able to see? It seems like you made this gadget just for me." Melanie said.

"Well…yes. It was intended for other ghosts because the ones we catch can't always talk as easily as you can. But whatever Ray did to it caused it to be a translator for you. Since Ray, Winston or Peter can't see or hear you, this device can pick up what they can't." Egon explained. Ray was looking at her words on the screen.

"Still seems a little slow but it'll work for now." Ray said. He turned around and looked expectantly at Egon. "What tests should we start with?"


	13. Chapter 13 Testing and Results

After hours of enduring the random tests that the two Ghostbusters made me perform, I sank down on the nearest lab table. They had asked me to levitate objects and move them around the room, the most recent one being the table I now sat on. I had started small with a pen and then worked through papers, books and chairs. Ray seemed super excited for the results he was receiving. Egon was halfheartedly immersed in the research, mostly checking to make sure I remained in control. As far as I could tell, everything I did, I did with only my own power. None of the overwhelming, uncontrollable energy from the warehouse seemed to be present.

"Okay Melanie…I want you to read this. See if we can match up what it says on the screen." Ray was standing at a nearby bookshelf, flipping through some of the collections of books they had there. I moved toward the man as he held out the book. I gently took it from his grasp, careful not to touch his hand.

" Ghost stories?" I asked, confusedly. "Isn't it a little childish for you scientists to keep something like this in here?"

Egon scoffed as Ray read my response off of the screen. Ray turned back to where I was holding the book.

"Well…would you rather read one of these huge science books? I figured that ghost story collection there would be easier reading for you." Ray said. I scowled. _What, did he think I had forgotten how to read in two years?_

I begrudgingly flipped the book open to a random page near the back. I glanced up at Egon who was holding out a device, scanning the book. I cleared my throat uncertainly and then looked down at the page.

"…and the spirits of those in the grave rose up on All Hallows Eve and walked among the living. They struck fear in all they encountered; taking with them the victims that had dared to fight them. They disappeared as the morning sun rose over the horizon, the light turning them back to the ash they had come from…"

"Wow, this is incredible!" Ray said excitedly from his perch near the computer. Egon was staring at me as I glanced up. I could feel my chest tighten as I thought of what would happen tomorrow night. I wanted to tell Egon the news, but one glance at the computer screen and I shied away from him.

"What's next, guys?" I asked. Egon looked to Ray who was reading my words off of the screen. It was kind of annoying how slowly it took to get a response from Ray, but it was better than nothing.

"Well, I'd like to see you interact with a living person. Egon told me a little bit of what happened at the warehouse, but I'd like to see for myself." Ray said.

Egon slowly crossed the room and took the open book from my hands. My hand lingered on the book as he touched it and I felt the warmth of his hand as my fingers brushed his skin. He looked at me, unsurely but I smiled up at him as sweetly as I could. He closed the book abruptly and tossed it back to Ray.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked quietly. Egon held up his hand palm up towards me without saying a word. Thinking about the first time I'd attempted this, I hesitantly raised my hand to meet his, leaving an inch of space between our hands. He was staring at my face calmly.

"Easy now…" Egon murmured. I bit my lip and braced for the contact. He met my hand as I pushed mine towards his. My hand was suddenly radiating with the warmth of his palm. I closed my eyes, reveling in the absence of the cold that always surrounded me.

"Wow…" I heard Ray whisper. I opened my eyes and turned my head to look at him. He was staring at Egon's hand in amazement.

"Is something wrong?" I asked after a moment. Egon shook his head.

"Your hand is glowing blue, Egon. Is that what usually happens?" Ray asked. Egon was looking down at his hand in confusion. He glanced back up at Ray.

"What are you talking about? I don't see anything except her hand."

"Egon, he's right, your hand's looking a little pale there."

I looked up at the same moment the other two Ghostbusters did. Peter entered the room, and tossed his jacket onto one of the chairs at the table. He stepped over to us and, not knowing I was there, took Egon's hand to look it over.

"OW!"

I jerked away at Peter's outburst. The warmth in my hand was instantly replaced with its usual icy numbness. I squeezed my hand into a fist and flexed it again. Egon was doing the same on the other side of Peter.

"I'm sorry…" I said.

"She says she's sorry, Pete!" Ray called over from the computer screen, I rolled my eyes.

"What? Who's sorry? What _was_ that?" Peter asked walking over to Ray and the computer.

"It was Melanie." Egon said. I looked at him sheepishly. Peter glanced hastily at Egon.

"What do you mean, 'it was Melanie'? What did she shock me for?" Peter asked, his face flushed. He shook his hand as if he was trying to get rid of the feeling in it.

"You touched her. That's what it feels like." Egon said. I stared at him quizzically. I had no idea my touch caused him pain.

"Sorry…" I repeated quietly. Ray stepped forward.

"I want to see…" Ray said, holding out his hand. I looked at him uncomfortably.

"Go ahead, Melanie." Egon said. I hesitantly reached out and tapped his palm with my finger. He jerked back slightly and laughed, shaking out his hand.

"T-that is so cool!" Ray exclaimed. "This is great stuff!"

"Yeah…like sticking your hand in a light socket…" Peter mumbled. I flashed a worried glance at him.

"I said I was sorry." I said. Peter was looking at the computer as my words appeared on the screen.

"Hey, that's cool. When did you guys come up with this thing? Where are those words coming from?" Peter asked, now interested. Ray and Egon crowded around the computer.

"Egon invented it. It's a translator for Melanie." Ray said, clapping a hand on Egon's shoulder.

"Huh. Well that's a nice thing to have, I guess. Where's Winston?" Peter asked. Ray thumbed at the bedroom door.

"He went to bed a little over an hour ago. You know it's after eleven now, right?" Ray glanced at his watch. My eyes widened and I flew over to the window. The moon was hanging high in the sky above the numerous buildings in the city, shining down on me. Ray and Egon had spent the whole afternoon running tests with me.

"Well…I'm gonna shower and I think I'll crash too. What time is that party tomorrow night anyway?" Peter yawned.

"It's from six to midnight. Louis wants us there halfway through." Egon said. I turned back to the Ghostbusters excitedly.

"Can I come?" I asked. Egon stared at me again.

"We've been through this, Melanie. You can't leave the building."

I pursed my lips into a knowing smile. Egon knitted his eyebrows together, not knowing what my smile hid. I glanced at the book I had read as it lay on the table. I would go with the Ghostbusters to the Halloween party tomorrow night.


	14. Chapter 14 Egon and Melanie

**I just had to post another chapter...couldn't leave it at 13! Sorry if the ending of this chapter has a weird transition...I didn't want to post ALL of the good parts at once. I don't wanna overwhelm you guys ;)**

 **I've been running belts all week again at work and man...today had me pretty stressed. About an hour into the workday this morning, I had started a new run and was watching the embroidery process, making sure everything was going alright when one of the clamp things that we use to hold the belts on the machine flew off and hit the table next to me. Dude...I about jumped a foot in the air. I've gotta stop thinking about this story 24/7!**

 **Anyways...I still haven't heard anything from anyone about this fanfiction...but I'd really like to know what you think! I'm at odds on what to do with what I have written...I'm thinking about changing what I have because it's too close to the end! Ugh...so I'd really like some help if ya'll don't mind! I'll shut up now so that you can read...enjoy!**

Egon stayed up until well past midnight, just talking with me. He told Ray and Peter that he would continue running tests with me, but as soon as Ray had left the room, he had tidied up his equipment and settled down to lean against the table next to where I was sitting cross legged on the desktop.

"What was your life like?" Egon asked quietly. I stared at him, a bubbly feeling rising in my chest.

"I wasn't popular if that's what you think." I said. "I actually didn't have very many friends. That's what happens when you're so quiet all the time."

"I can relate." Egon said. I beamed up at him.

"You've got more friends in this one building than I had at my school. After I graduated I lost contact with most of them. I just…worked to stay busy most of the time." I continued slowly.

"It's easy to lose yourself in your work." Egon shifted uncomfortably. I looked up at him and smiled reassuringly.

"I'm glad I met you though. You're the first one I've been able to talk to in what feels like forever. I thought I would go insane with no one to hear me." I said lightheartedly. Egon gazed down at me softly.

"I'm glad we met too. You have no idea how much you've helped me with my research."

I felt my smile slip as I looked up at him in disbelief. I was pouring my heart out to him and all he thought about when he looked at me was his _research?_ He seemed to notice my reaction and realized that he'd said the wrong thing. I waited to hear how he would fix it.

"I mean…"

"Yeah?" I prompted. Egon fidgeted with his glasses nervously. The lamp on the desk behind me flickered slightly, reflecting my irritation. Egon sighed.

"It's late. I really need to get some sleep before our special appearance tomorrow evening." He stood up and moved away from the desk I sat on. I narrowed my eyes and sat up straighter.

"Alright, Egon Spengler. But don't think I'll forget this so easily." I warned lightly. He glanced over his shoulder at me apologetically and opened the bedroom door where the other three Ghostbusters were sleeping.

When the door shut behind him, I slumped my shoulders and looked at the digital clock on the desk next to me. It was almost three in the morning, no wonder he'd acted like he was so exhausted. I felt a little guilty that he had felt the need to stay up with me.

I couldn't get the feeling out of my mind that it was Halloween. As soon as the sun set, I would be allowed to walk among the living, like the book had said. I still thought it was no coincidence that I had randomly turned to that part in the book.

The past two Halloweens that had passed since my death, I had remained in the warehouse despite being alive. I had been afraid of what would happen if I had left the building, so I had stayed there, and I had chosen to sleep since I had been unable to rest any other day of the year. It was only temporary life of course, from dusk to dawn. I was eagerly looking forward to sunset on this Halloween, however.

"Sorry Venkman…"

I was jerked out of my thoughts as I heard a whisper from the bedroom. I looked up as the door creaked slowly open. Egon emerged, looking disheveled and exhausted. I stood up from the desk.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly. He looked up at me, eyes still sleepy.

"Nightmare, I think." He mumbled. He walked over and sat in the chair next to the desk. I moved to his side, careful not to unintentionally touch him.

"What was it about?"

"I'm not sure. But I woke up wanting to go check out the warehouse again. Must be my subconscious reminding me that I need to do that as soon as possible." Egon took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes with his hand.

"Egon…there's something I want to tell you…" I started. I figured some happier news might make him feel better. He pinched the bridge of his nose and then looked up at me wearily.

"If you're going to try and stop me from going back to the warehouse, don't bother." He said in a monotone. I was taken aback.

"When are you planning on going back?" I asked.

"I figured since I can't sleep, I may as well call Margaret and ask her to leave me a key or something and I'll go in a little while." He said. I shook my head and glanced at the digital clock behind me on the desk.

"You can't do that! It's only…seven thirty…" I trailed off. I really hated when time passed me by so quickly. Egon was looking at me, with an eyebrow raised behind his glasses.

"What time did you think it was?" He asked.

"It feels like you just left the room… but that was over four hours ago…" I murmured. He looked up at me thoughtfully.

"Were you in your ghost dimension? I noticed that time feels slower but goes faster there."

"No…no I didn't think I was…" I said. I shook my head and blinked several times. I finally looked up to him worriedly.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly.

"I felt like I was losing my mind back at the warehouse these past few weeks, Egon. Like…I wasn't aware of my surroundings sometimes. But…it's slowly getting better now that I'm here. Does that make any sense to you?" I looked up to him, hoping that I didn't sound crazy to him. He paused looking me over and then nodded.

"You look different. I'm beginning to think being out of that warehouse is doing you some good." Egon said. I looked up at him confusedly.

"What do you mean, I look different?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Well, you were pale and you were actually starting to look like a ghost when we arrived at the warehouse yesterday morning. But since being here it's like you're resorting back to the first time I saw you."

"How did I look then? You have to remember, mirrors don't work for me anymore." I said, joking halfheartedly.

"Well, you looked alive for one thing. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought you were one of the regular workers, despite being there in the middle of the night."

"Oh." I said, I looked down at the ground shyly. I could feel his eyes on me as I glanced around uncomfortably.

"If you don't mind my asking…what do you remember about your death?"

I glanced up at him sharply. I hadn't intended for him to bring it up so suddenly. I finally met his eyes levelly.

"Everything." I whispered. His eyes showed interest but also a pang of sadness. I waited for him to press me for more details but he didn't. My expression and the numerous flickering lights in the room must have made him hesitate.

"Well, I'd better call Margaret…she'll be opening up soon anyway. I think I should warn her of the mess we left…" He stood and crossed the room to the phone. I glanced up at him worriedly as he dialed her number and spoke to her. She must have been a little ticked off because I could see Egon's jaw clench as he apologized several times before finally hanging up.

"I assume she didn't take it well when she saw the damage I caused?" I asked meekly. Egon turned to me and rolled his eyes.

"No…we'll claim that under our Ghostbusters fee. She was just not looking forward to me coming by again." He smirked as he moved to the staircase. I followed him urgently, questioning if I should tell him about the transformation that would happen to me this evening.

"Wait…Egon…" I said as he jogged down the stairs, flipping on a light switch as he went. He opened the nearest locker and pulled out his Ghostbuster uniform.

"Everything will be fine, Melanie. I'll just go and take a few readings and come right back."

"No that's not it…I want to tell you that tonight I…"

"Why do you keep bringing up the party? I understand you've been a ghost for over two years, but I don't think it's wise to release you among a whole crowd of people. Even if it is in Louis's apartment…" Egon quickly slipped the uniform on over his clothes.

I snapped my mouth shut. If he wouldn't hear my confession, then he would just be surprised when I came down the stairs ready for the party tonight. I smiled halfheartedly and watched as he rushed back up the lab room for his equipment.

I looked around at the garage-turned office space. Janine's secretary desk stood right next to the lockers in the middle of the room, a computer and other office appliances crowded on the desktop. Two extremely tall fire poles extended up into the ceiling in front of the lockers. Behind Janine's desk was a few old rusted filing cabinets and another desk stood behind them against the back wall. Papers and empty chip bags littered the surface of the desk. I assumed that desk was Peter's.

"Where is your desk?" I asked as Egon came back down the stairs, tinkering with one of his devices in his hand. He had a few more meters and gadgets strapped to his side on the uniform.

"Oh, I don't have one. Ray and I spend most of our time upstairs in the lab." Egon said. He walked past me and towards the car. I stared wide eyed as I took in the appearance of it. It was painted all white, with several ridiculous sirens and lights on the roof of it. A ghost was painted on the side doors with a circle and a red line drawn across it. I raised an eyebrow, amused.

"Was that here before?" I asked, pointing at the car as Egon opened the driver's side door.

"Oh, no. Peter had taken it out. He goes back to his apartment sometimes to meet his girlfriend, Dana." Egon explained. "He's not really supposed to take in on non-business affairs but I guess he thinks it makes us look busier than we actually are."

"Egon…I'm really worried about you going back to that warehouse. If something happens…" I trailed off, worry evident in my shaking voice. He paused as he was getting into the car and glanced up at me, concern in his eyes.

"Nothing's going to happen. I just want to measure a few things. I hope I was wrong before, but if I'm going to get any sleep I need to put my mind at ease." Egon started the car. I rushed to his side and he rolled the window down, slightly annoyed.

"Can't you take Ray or one of the others with you?" I asked. He glanced at his watch and shook his head.

"They won't be up for another three or four hours. I'll be back before they even wake up, I promise." He said, trying to be reassuring. I still stared worriedly through the window as he fidgeted with his P.K.E meter, making sure it worked by switching it on and sticking it in my face. I jerked back and he smirked, satisfied and shut the device off.

"Egon, I'm serious. Let me go with you. If you just wait until tonight…" I said. Egon gave me a strange look as he set the meter in the seat next to him.

"If I'm not back in an hour, then you can worry. Until, then you can wake up Ray if you need anything." Egon rolled up the window and the garage doors slowly slid open.

"No Egon…wait!" I called after him as I followed the vehicle out of the firehouse. As I reached the boundaries of the building, the bright sunny New York morning transformed into darkness.

I was suddenly flip-flopped and I was running back into the firehouse. The darkness stayed, but then as I willed it to leave, it lifted and was replaced by the bright firehouse lights. I whirled around to see the garage door closing again. I stared at them in bewilderment. I'd never tried to break my boundaries before, but the sensation it gave me left me feeling shaky and odd.

"I'm never trying that again…" I murmured.


	15. Chapter 15 Ray

**I'm so excited about this part! I had to double check it before posting it on here of course and I add more and more every time I read it! Ugh...I really love how this story is going right now! I haven't written much new stuff this week because I've been so exhausted from work but I'll get back on it soon, I promise!**

I appeared up in the lab room, sitting on the computer desk staring hungrily at the clock. I hoped time would pass as quickly as it usually did but the clock seemed ten times as slow as I waited for Egon's return. After only fifteen minutes, I phased through the bedroom door and flew to the nearest bed.

"Ray…" I said gently. I stared down at the sleeping man. He was clutching his pillow, mouth open wide. I kicked the side of his bed, jarring him almost to consciousness. I then got an idea, though it may have seemed like a mean one, but I was desperate. I raised my hand to his face, and touched him gently, feeling the spark of energy.

"Gah!" He yelped as he jerked upright, thrusting his pillow off the bed. He looked around wildly in the dark room.

"Ray." I said again a little louder. Surely if I willed him to hear me, he would? He continued looking around confusedly for a few more seconds before picking up his pillow and hesitantly settling back against the headboard of his bed. I shook my head, frustrated and reached for his hand.

"Ow! Melanie? Is that you?" Ray asked. I yanked the pillow away from him in confirmation.

"Come on, Ray. If you won't listen to me, then we're going to your translator thingy." I called over my shoulder. He still made no acknowledgement that he'd heard me. When he still didn't move, I grabbed his arm and hoisted him to his feet.

"Okay okay! I get it…just hang on a minute." He reached down and pulled on his khaki pants over his boxer shorts.

I bit my lip, still thinking about what dangers might be waiting for Egon at the warehouse. I had a sense of the darkness on the ceiling of the embroidery building. I had thought nothing of it at the time but now that I'd been able to reflect on it, I realized that it may have definitely been something out of the ordinary.

I shoved the door open before Ray could reach it and I rushed over to the computer. I pressed a button on the keyboard and waited as the computer screen woke up. Ray stifled a yawn as he keyed in the passwords to reach the system where he had hooked up the translator device. I waited impatiently as he worked to boot up everything.

"Ray, this is taking too long! Egon could be in trouble." I insisted. I moved to the counter and spotted a coffeepot half full of coffee from the night before. I picked up the pot and willed it to boil in my hands. Ray heard the noise and glanced over at where I held the hovering pot of coffee. I sent a pulse out in front of me that whipped all of the cabinet doors open and scanned the cabinets until I found a plain white mug. It floated down to my other hand and I poured the steaming coffee into the cup. I sent the coffeepot back to where it had been and floated back over to Ray who had finally pulled up the translator.

"Okay Melanie, what do you want?" Ray stifled another yawn as he took the coffee mug from my hand. He winced as my fingers brushed his.

"Egon went to the warehouse. I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen to me." I said, waiting for my words to catch up on the screen.

"Why would he go back to the warehouse?" Ray asked, confused. I rolled my eyes.

"He said he took some readings when you guys were there yesterday morning and after I was already caught, he still had frequencies that something else was in the building." I said hurriedly.

"You must be talking too fast…the words are all jumbled. Say it again, Melanie." Ray said, pressing a few keys on the computer. I threw my hands into the air in defeat.

"This is taking forever! Egon is probably there _right now!_ He might need help!" I shouted. The computer filled with static, blinking back to normal after a few seconds and then my words slowly typed across the screen.

"Melanie, calm down. You're gonna blow a fuse in here or something."

I stared at him, feeling the urge to cry. I stepped closer to him and pulled back my hand and slapped him as hard as I could across the face. He fell to the floor with the force of it, and I caught the coffee cup that he dropped before it splattered on the ground. I set the cup on the counter and reached down to help him up. He cringed and yanked his hand away as I jerked back suddenly feeling guilty.

"I'm…I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me, Ray. I'm sorry…" I said quickly, staring at him as he blinked slowly and then rose to his feet, clutching his cheek.

"W-what?" He said, turning to look at me.

I froze as his eyes landed on my face. I opened my mouth to say something but he beat me to it.

"Melanie…I can see you." Ray said. He let his hand fall from his face as he stared at me.

"How?" I squeaked. I looked down at the hand I had slapped him with, but nothing looked different. Ray took a step closer towards where I floated a few feet in front of him. It was strange to see his big brown eyes looking right at me instead of through me.

"The supernatural energy from that… _really_ strong slap…must have somehow affected…"

"A blow to the head sounds more accurate." I mumbled, crossing my arms. Ray picked up a small camera like device from the tabletop next to him. He held it up towards me and I saw a flash of light.

"Wow…you don't show up in pictures either! This is crazy!" Ray was flipping through slides on his camera, grinning excitedly. I stared at him for moment and then gently swiped the device out of his hands.

"Ray…what about Egon?" I pressed as I replaced the camera on the table. He raised his eyebrows and his smile faltered.

"You said he was going for more measurements? How long ago did he leave, did you say?" He asked.

"It was only like thirty minutes ago…but I'm worried. I remember now that there was something odd about that place ever since you and Egon were kicked out that day. I just always had this overshadowing feeling…like I was being watched. And…I felt _weaker_ ….if that's possible." I said. Ray frowned in thought.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Melanie. If you're that worried, I can call him but he won't be happy if we disturb him in the middle of his work." Ray picked up the desk phone.

"He said he would be back in less than an hour. I guess we could wait…but I'd really rather not. I tried to go with him but I can't leave the building. I hate ghost rules." I slumped to the desktop and crossed my arms over my chest.

"What happens if you try to leave?" Ray asked, interested. I gaped at him, slightly annoyed.

"It just turns me around and I'm running the other way back into the building. I've never tried it before but that was really…weird." I said, shuddering. Ray stared at me strangely.

"Will you…" He began but I immediately shook my head.

"No I will _not_ show you. I'm not doing that again." I said firmly. His eyes fell slightly.

"I'm sorry. It's just so great to finally be able to see and meet you!" He said animatedly. I relaxed my shoulders a bit and smiled at him.

"I know." I said. Suddenly there was a loud banging on the wall from the bedroom. Ray jumped and his smile turned into a cringe.

"Ray! You and Egon better keep it down in there. I still need like eight more hours of sleep to be ready for tonight!" Peter's muffled voice shouted. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

"Is it always like this here?" I asked, amusement filling my voice. Ray turned and looked at me quizzically.

"Oh yeah. Me, Egon and Peter have always known each other it seems like. Winston joined us just a few years ago but he warmed up to us pretty well too." Ray explained. I smiled.

"I wish I still had close friends like that." I thought out loud. Ray's smile faded slowly.

"You've had no other contact with a person living or dead for the past few years?" He asked softly. I shook my head.

"The only people I've seen since I died were the other workers and Margaret. And occasionally other skeptics who wanted to see a poltergeist at work." I shrugged. "I really missed interacting with other people, honestly."

"Sounds like it. So why do you think Egon was the only one able to see you that first night we visited the warehouse?" Ray asked, leaning against the table and crossing his arms over his chest. I switched my gaze to the ground, thinking. I then looked back up at him and shook my head.

"I have no idea. You guys say that you have been able to see all of the other ghosts you've encountered before. I don't know what's wrong with me that makes me different." I said.

"My theory is that you're the first intelligent spirit we've seen. You're still holding your human form which is odd. In fact…you hardly look like a ghost at all." Ray said. I blinked at him.

"What's a ghost supposed to look like? White and shapeless with eyes and mouth holes?" I asked sarcastically. Ray gave me a strange look and then realized that I was joking. He laughed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Well…no, but…"

"Would you rather I look like this?"

I felt the change as it slowly took hold over me.

I vaguely remembered the pain from the car accident. My head had collided with the steering wheel, blood running from my forehead down my cheek and staining my black T-shirt. Glass from my windshield had stabbed through my chest and torso, feeling like thousands of tiny needle pricks. The other car had smashed straight through the front of my car, and I remembered staring foggy eyed at the other driver just a few feet in front of me.

The other driver had gotten out of his car seemingly unharmed and was calling someone when the cops and paramedics had arrived. I had been close to blacking out when I forced my way out of my own car. My left shoulder had been completely useless, feeling heavy and grating painfully as I tried to move it. I had collapsed on the side of the road on the cold frosted ground, cold rain pounding against my face. Then the paramedics had rushed over and one of them had said something to me that sounded like a question. I shook my head in confusion and then he hastily removed whatever had been impaling my shoulder. I had seen blood everywhere and then, despite the voices calling at me to stay awake, I had finally succumbed to the darkness.

"Um…Melanie…?"

I jerked back to the present and looked down. Blood coated my hands and upper body. My clothes were torn and dirty and by the look on Ray's face, my appearance was ghastly. I shook myself and felt everything go back to normal.

"Sorry." I mumbled. Ray still stared wide eyed at me, frozen to the spot. I shut my eyes and wanted to sink through the floor and get away from him. I'd probably just scarred him for life. I shivered with the memories of the pain and fear I had gone through that fateful morning.

"Wait, Melanie…don't go."

I glanced up at Ray wearily. The fear in his face was gone and he cleared his throat.

"So…you remembered the crash?" He asked gently. I nodded solemnly.

"Every bit of it." My voice cracked. Ray's eyes were filled with pity. Then he glanced up over my shoulder. I turned slowly and nearly leaped across the room. Egon stood there in the doorway at the top of the stairs, confusion on his face. The lamp on the table next to where Ray and I had been standing popped as the lightbulb brightened with my overexcited energy.

"Woah! Melanie calm down!" Ray said as I ignored him.

"Oh Egon!" I cried as I flew towards him and wrapped my arms around him. He jerked his arms up in a sense of surrender and then relaxed a bit. I felt shaky from remembering the crash but at the sight of him, who I'd also been worried about, everything had melted away.

"Anything happen while I was gone?" Egon asked lightheartedly. I pulled away and looked at Ray as he crossed the room slowly to join us.

"Well, not much. I can see and hear Melanie now though. She's got a mean swing, Egon. You might want to watch out for her." Ray said as he massaged his jaw where a slight purple mark was appearing. I grinned as I looked up at Egon. He was looking down at me, an impressed look on his face.

"She was worried about you, Egon. I was beginning to think we'd have to fight her off again." Ray said jokingly. My smile faltered.

"D-did you find anything at the warehouse, Egon?" I asked expectantly. He sighed and shook his head.

"Everything seemed clear. I don't understand it though…" Egon said with a thoughtful look on his face.

"How was Margaret?" I asked. Egon shrugged.

"She was fine, if not a little cranky."

"Well if everything's all been sorted out, I'm going back to sleep. I'm exhausted." Ray yawned as he headed back towards the bedroom. "Try not to blow up any more lightbulbs, Melanie."

I grinned as I turned back to Egon after the door shut behind Ray.

"So you can resort back to how you felt and looked at the moment you died." Egon stated. I winced.

"You saw that, huh?" I asked as my smile fell. He didn't move, just looked down at me with interest.

"How much do you remember about after the crash?" He asked. I felt the pain of the memory once more.

"I just remember laying on the ground looking up at the sky, frozen in excruciating pain. It was awful, Egon. I couldn't move, but it hurt so badly…there were so many people yelling at each other and at me. I tried to stay awake but I was freezing and then…it just went dark."

"What about after that?" He pressed. I shook my head.

"I was walking in to work. I had thought the whole thing was a dream until I realized that no one knew I was there. Then it all came back to me."

Egon studied my face, and I could see that he had wanted more of an answer than that. I smiled wearily.

"Maybe it's not meant to be known what happened between that morning and the day I showed back up to work." I said softly. His mouth tilted upward slightly.

"I wanted to say something earlier. I'm sorry I bashed your feelings like I did. You do mean more to me than research."

I blinked abruptly and then smiled. I felt imaginary tears well up in my eyes.

"What changed your mind?" I asked.

"I had a lot of time to think it over on the drive to and from the warehouse." Egon said. I gently reached for his hand then realized the pain it would cause him so I grasped the sleeve of his uniform and rested my hand on his forearm instead.

"What did you think about?" I asked.

"How you still stay willingly after everything that's happened. We fought you and took you away from the place you've been haunting for the past two years. I still can't get over how you're not upset." Egon said. I shrugged.

"Where can I go?" I asked. He cringed slightly and I immediately wished I could take back the harshness that had been in my response. "I…I mean…I'm actually kind of glad to be out of there. I was beginning to get a little bored with the same old work every day." I smiled reassuringly.

"You know…you seem to have almost no anger at all. I can't get over how different you are from the other ghosts we capture. It's so hard to not believe you're real." He murmured. I shifted my gaze to the ground where I floated once more a few inches above the wood floor.

"I am real." I said, raising my gaze to his face. I longed to be alive where I could hold his hand without hurting him or phasing through. Even if I attempted something bigger like a kiss…it couldn't work. I settled only for a longing stare as he looked down at me.

After a long moment of us staring at each other in silence, Egon moved to sit at the small table in the kitchen area. I slowly floated into the seat next to him. He seemed thoughtful as he stared from my face to the floor.

"Egon…I wanted to say something earlier but you kept stopping me. It's about how tonight is Halloween." I started. He opened his mouth to say something but I held my hand up. "It's not just about the party. What I read in the book last night? It's…it's true."

"How do you mean?" He asked. I gestured to where the book still sat on the tabletop.

"The dead really do rise on this night. You haven't ever noticed a difference in the amount of hauntings on this one night a year?" I asked him. He readjusted his glasses thoughtfully.

"I hadn't ever thought about it to be honest." He said. Then my words must have registered because his eyes flicked back to me. "Wait…what do you mean 'the dead rise'?"

"You're exhausted, Egon. Go back to sleep." I said gently as I hoisted him to his feet and pushed him toward the bedroom.

"No, I want you to explain." He said, trying to turn around and face me. My hands were planted in his back and I shoved him with a small pulse of energy.

"It's fine. It's nothing bad that you need to worry about." I said as I slammed the door behind him, closing him and the other Ghostbusters into the room. The doorknob jiggled slightly and then I heard one of the other men's muffled voices yell at Egon again. I smiled as Egon kicked the door softly. I turned my back and slid down the door, resting lightly on the floor. "At least, I hope you won't have to worry."

 **I wanted to add the car crash scene in but didn't really know how...so it was kind of a flashback...sorry if that confused anybody! I couldn't decide whether to bring Egon in on it as like a vision Melanie tried to show him or what but this seemed to work out okay. Let me know if I should try to go more in depth with it because I've got a bunch of ideas where it might work in... ;)**


	16. Chapter 16 Morning Talks

**Yeah...I'm not getting very creative with my chapter titles but oh well! If they sound cheesy, then that's fine. :) I'm currently rewriting what I originally had after this part and I ended up deleting like ten pages of stuff...but it's going to work out! I'm still super excited, so please read and review! :D**

Egon lay awake in his bed after trying for several minutes to open the door. But Melanie had locked him in, forcing him to take his much needed sleep. He had been unable to for almost half an hour. He stared up at the darkened ceiling. The curtains in the room had been pulled tightly so that the Ghostbusters could catch up on their sleep.

He had been contemplating the strange relationship he had with Melanie the whole while he'd been gone. From the very beginning he'd realized she wasn't an ordinary spirit…she was more alive than she literally was. He had attempted to brush aside his feelings with his want for research but she kept fighting for his attention.

He smiled amusedly as he remembered how she had reacted to the P.K.E. meter each time he tried to use it. The time he had shoved it in her face while he was in Ecto-1, he had just wanted to see her reaction. When she had jerked away, afraid to touch the device, he had tried to contain his amusement but he had let his smile slip.

He turned over onto his side, facing the door on the wall. He sighed as he thought about how unable he was to show his emotions. He tried to always think logically but things like love never made much sense to him. He closed his eyes, trying to force himself to sleep.

He couldn't shake the sight of Melanie when he had first reentered the apartment above the firehouse from his mind. She had been covered with blood, tears in her black shirt from what looked like protruding shards of glass and metal. There had been a large blackened bruise above her right eyebrow from which a stream of blood ran. Her face had been deathly pale and her eyes had been glassy like she was in the middle of remembering the accident. The room had dropped severely in temperature, so cold that Egon had been able to see his breath in front of him. Ray had seen Egon from across the room and he'd brought Melanie out of her trance, and she'd instantly returned to the warm, alive looking girl he'd grown to know.

Egon jerked awake, having dozed off for a while. He glanced around the room and could see that Ray was awake, sitting on the side of his bed staring at the closed window. He stared at his friend for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Ray, you alright?" He asked quietly, not wanting disturb the other two sleeping Ghostbusters. Ray turned to him and smiled sleepily.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just had a little nightmare. Comes with the job, ya know." Ray leaned back against the headboard of his bed, rubbing his face.

"So she hit you? And you were able to see her after that contact?" Egon asked Ray, noticing the dark mark on his cheekbone even in the darkened room. Ray smirked.

"Yeah, she claims the blow to my head caused me to be able to see her but it doesn't make sense that you've been able to see her from the beginning, even though she never hit you like this." Ray once again touched his cheek lightly, wincing. Egon had thought about that fact many times too.

"Maybe she just needed a friend. And Egon was the closest thing to paranormal a guy can get."

Ray and Egon both jumped at the sudden voice. They turned and saw Peter resting casually with his head propped up on his hand.

"You _are_ pretty weird, Egon." Peter added lightly. Egon frowned, unamused.

"Man, I've woken up almost every hour tonight because of you guys. Thanks for the restful night's sleep…" Winston said, annoyed from the other corner of the room. He picked up his alarm clock from his nightstand and saw that it was almost ten in the morning. "Great, what time was Janine supposed to come in this morning?"

"Uh…nine. I'm surprised she hasn't come up here to investigate yet." Ray said. The four Ghostbusters looked at each other at the exact same moment before they all leaped out of bed and dressed quickly.

"Seriously Egon, if Melanie scared our secretary away, I'm gonna kill you." Peter said as he pulled on a T shirt.

"I think he'd be okay with that." Winston said, intending it as a joke. Egon glared at the man.

"Easy, Egon nobody's killing anybody right now. Surely Melanie wouldn't do anything…?" Ray asked as he moved to the door. He tried to turn the knob but it was stuck fast.

"Uh…Melanie? Can you let us out now?" Egon called out. Ray was still yanking at the doorknob, trying to twist it open when Melanie's hold on the door faded away. Ray cried out in surprise as he fell to the floor through the open door.

"That was weird." Peter said as he stepped over Ray and into the apartment room, heading for the stairs and called for Janine as he quickly descended into the firehouse.

"Thanks for that, Melanie…" Ray said as he got up off of the floor. Melanie floated over from across the room where she had been sitting on the computer desk.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you all were in such a hurry to get out." She said apologetically. Ray brushed himself off.

"How were you able to block the door like that?" Ray asked, mystified.

"Same way I make things levitate or make myself disappear. It's a ghost thing." Melanie said proudly.

"That's amazing…you make it seem like it's so easy. How long did it take you to figure this all out?" Ray asked. Melanie looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.

"Well, at first I couldn't figure out why strange things kept happening in the workspace. Things would fly off shelves, lights would flicker and it just gave me the creeps. After I knew I was dead, I tried to figure out what parts in ghost stories were true and what wasn't so when I actually tried to make things move and they did…I just kept testing out my abilities from there."

"Wait Ray, how are you talking to her? You don't have your translator thing on." Winston said as he came into the room. Ray beamed at him excitedly.

"Melanie's allowed me to be able to see her now too. It's really cool!" Ray said.

"Oh. Does that explain the huge black bruise on your face?" Peter asked, coming back up the stairs.

"Ooh…that looks painful. What happened?" Winston asked, cringing as Ray turned his face.

"Let's just say she got a little impatient with the translator taking too long and wanted to speed things up." Ray said. Egon smirked.

"Guys, Janine isn't here. Anybody hear anything from her?" Peter asked. Melanie brightened and turned to Egon and Ray.

"Oh! There was a message on the phone. I think it was her. She said she had to help Louis get ready for the party and that she wasn't coming in today." Melanie explained.

"Okay, good to know." Ray said, relaxing a bit, Peter gawked at him.

"Wow, now we've got two crazies loose in the building. Is this contagious?" Peter asked.

"No. But I can hit you too if you want…" Melanie said in a light threat. Egon raised an eyebrow and caught her joking glance. She smiled at him and laughed.

"What? What'd she say?" Peter asked, reading Egon's facial expression. Egon shook his head, stifling a laugh himself.

"She says she'll hit you if you want her to." Ray told him.

"No thanks. I'd rather not look like you for the party tonight." Peter said. Ray frowned, slightly hurt. He covered his bruised cheek up with his hand self-consciously. Melanie shot him another apologetic look.

"Aren't you taking Dana to the party tonight, Pete?" Winston asked. Peter glanced at his watch and then slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Yes! I forgot I'm taking her out to lunch in an hour too. Ugh…this ghost girl is really stealing our focus." Peter rushed back into the bedroom to look for something decent to wear. Melanie looked wearily up at the other three Ghostbusters.

"He's joking, Melanie." Egon said.

"Though you have proven to be really useful in our studies!" Ray said with a huge smile. Winston shook his head.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you guys talking to thin air like this." Winston said.

"It's not thin air, it's Melanie!" Ray said. Smiling impishly, he grabbed Winston's hand and led him to where Melanie floated. She gave Ray a puzzled look and then gently touched Winston's hand. The man let out a yelp and jumped back a few feet.

"Okay…not thin air. Good to know." He said shaking his hand out. Melanie laughed.


	17. Chapter 17 Margaret's Repairs

**Another short one, guys. This is where the plot action starts building up though so don't worry! I'll hold off on posting the next chapter until maybe Friday or Saturday. Work has been hectic this week...we've been so busy that my boss had to hire her nephew to help some in the back this week unboxing the shipments we get. And let me say...he's a cutie! :)**

Margaret Wilson walked up to the building, her arms loaded with several bags of cleaning supplies and replacement machinery. She had tried to assess the damage when she had opened up the warehouse for Egon that morning and from what she could see, only two of the machines could be salvaged. The others needed to be fully replaced because they had been so damaged by the Ghostbusters proton guns.

"We'll see if I ever recommend them to anyone else…" Margaret muttered under her breath as she placed a few of her shopping bags on the ground at her feet to dig into her pocket for her keys. She unlocked the front door and punched in the code to shut the alarm off. She hoisted the bags back into her arms and kicked the door shut behind her.

She stopped in her office and set a few of the bags on her desk. She dropped her purse onto the chair and began searching through the shopping bags for the machine parts. She would start by replacing those and then attempt to clean up the majority of the mess that littered the room. Finally finding what she was looking for, she switched on the warehouse lights, knowing that all but two of the fluorescent lights had been damaged.

"I'll have to call someone about the lights tomorrow. I can't believe that some people think Halloween is an official business holiday." She mumbled.

She stepped carefully over fallen boxes and thread spools as she walked towards the first machine. She spotted one cardboard box that had several pairs of scissors and clippers stabbed through it. She froze and stared at it in shock.

"Huh. She must really have had a rebellious spirit in her." Margaret said. She had always thought Melanie had been quiet and reserved, and that she didn't have a mean bone in her body. But then maybe being a ghost for so long changed a person…

She kicked the box gently out of her path and set the machine parts down on the worktable. She turned around and began pulling out the most damaged parts from the large machine. She worked for several long minutes, trying to fit the new parts into the slots she had taken the ruined pieces from. Once she'd finally restored the first machine to a sort of working order she turned around to pick up the remaining spare parts to move on to the next machine.

"What the…?"

The parts had been moved from the table. Margaret glanced around the machine and table confusedly. Then she ducked down to see if they'd fallen to the ground but didn't see them anywhere. When she stood back up, she placed her hands on her hips in annoyance.

"Melanie…are you still here?" She called out angrily. If those Ghostbusters had just come here again only to leave the ghost behind…she was going to do something about it.

Suddenly the two working fluorescent lights exploded, shrouding the warehouse in darkness. Margaret's scream echoed through the empty warehouse and she tripped over a heavy box in her mad scramble for the entrance. The door which had been the only thing lighting the darkened room slammed shut as she reached it, locking her in.

"NO! NO…" Margaret screamed out breathlessly. Suddenly cold hands snaked their way around her neck, icy fingers digging into her throat. She fought to get out of the ghost's grasp, screaming the whole while.

She ducked and rolled away from her invisible attacker and felt something sharp dig into her back. She let out another scream and then reached behind her for the object that had poked her. It was the box that had saved Ray from being impaled. She yanked a pair of scissors from out of the box and whirled around as she felt the cold presence grow closer to her again.

"Melanie…please stop this!" Margaret screamed as she swung and sliced the scissors out in front of her. A sudden large blow slammed into the poor warehouse owner and she dropped the scissors which slid across the floor. She scrambled blindly trying to reach around for where she had heard them fall.

She was suddenly hoisted from the ground by her throat. She choked out another scream as she was tossed across the room into a cluster of cardboard boxes.


	18. Chapter 18 Duty Calls

**I survived another week at work, guys! Sorry I'm late posting this, but I've been busy running some errands today. I did get around to playing the Ghostbusters Wii game though. I'm super in love with that. I might post two chapters since this one is so short, so I hope you guys are liking it! Please let me know what ya'll think!**

"Melanie…grab me another soda, would you?" Winston called from where the three Ghostbusters were eating a late lunch. I made a face at Winston, which I knew he couldn't see. Ray and Egon both smirked at me as I moved to the fridge and opened the door to get Winston his drink.

"Not your slave, dude." I said as I set the can on the table next to Winston's plate. He looked up through me.

"Thanks." He said. I stared at him for a second and then burst into laughter. Ray and Egon were trying to stifle their own snickers as they hid behind their sub sandwiches.

"Hey, I'm trying you guys!" Winston said as Ray and Egon's choked laughter reached him.

"We know…but it's not working." Ray said as he wiped his sleeve across his mouth.

Suddenly their laughter died as the phone rang loudly. We all stared at the phone for a moment as it rang for a second and third time. Ray finally jumped up and answered it.

"Hello, Ghostbusters." He said as he sipped his soda. He nearly choked on it as the other person on the phone was speaking so loudly that even across the room, Egon, Winston and I could hear them.

"That…that sounds like Margaret…" I said wonderingly.

"Okay…okay we'll be there as soon as we can….yes. Just…stay calm. Everything will be fine. Yes ma'am. Goodbye." Ray hung up and then set his soda can on the table gesturing for the other two Ghostbusters to get up.

"What was it? Where are we going?" Winston asked.

"Margaret says she was attacked. We've gotta go." Ray said as he ran to the fire pole across the room. Egon got up and rushed after him along with Winston.

"Oh no…" I said as I melted through the floor and appeared downstairs as the three Ghostbusters pulled on their uniforms at the lockers next to the fire pole.

"I knew there was something there…" Egon was muttering to Ray as he zipped up his jumpsuit. Ray gave him a worried look.

"She sounded awfully scared. This must be really bad." Ray said. He grabbed the keys to the car off of Janine's empty desk and yanked open the driver's side door of the Ecto-1. I rushed after them.

"Wait…where's your equipment?" I called after them.

Egon looked over his shoulder at me and then at the empty back of the car. He rushed for the stairs but I disappeared and reappeared upstairs where their proton packs lay on the equipment table. I raised my hand willed them to float towards the door and down the stairs where Egon waited, wide eyed. He grabbed one and rushed it over to the car where Winston was opened the back and sliding out the rollers that held them. I followed him over there with the other two proton packs and watched as he carefully secured them onto the rollers one by one. Then he slid the cart back into the car and slammed the door shut.

"We'll be back as soon as we can, Melanie." Egon said as he spared me a worried glance over his car door. He stood there staring at me for a long moment, and I figured I must have matched his worried expression equally.

"We've gotta go Egon! Get in the car!" Ray shouted over the roar of the engine. The garage doors slid open and the sirens and lights flashed on. Egon ducked into the car. I rushed to the passenger window and placed my hand on the glass saying a silent prayer that they would all return safe and sound. Egon turned and stared carefully into my eyes before he finally raised his hand to the glass and met mine. I smiled at him, knowing that if I had the ability, I would be doing some ugly crying as I jerked my hand off of the window and watched the Ecto-1 fly screeching out of the firehouse


	19. Chapter19 Another Ghost in the Warehouse

"Thank goodness you're here!" Margaret rushed towards the Ghostbusters' car as it pulled into the small parking lot. Her face was stained with tears and what looked like soot. She had a slight limp in her right leg and she ran to meet the Ghostbusters as they unloaded everything from the car.

"Are you alright, Margaret?" Ray asked as the woman broke down into heaving sobs in his arms. She shook her head and gripped the sleeves of his uniform tightly.

"No…she… _attacked_ me! I don't know what you all did to her but she's totally changed!" Margaret choked out. Ray slowly peeled the woman off of him.

"We captured Melanie. She's back at the firehouse. There's no way that she could still be influencing things here…" Egon said as he scanned the outside entrance with his P.K.E. meter.

"I don't know what it is…just get rid of it! I'm going to need therapy after this…" Margaret cried as she smeared the grime on her face trying to wipe away her tears.

The three Ghostbusters wordlessly walked past the woman and pulled the door open, stepping quietly into the building. Ray led the way through the long hallway and the office to the door to the warehouse.

"Woah. She really must have freaked." Winston said as the three men spotted the desk and chair that had been moved to block the door. Ray and Winston worked together to slide the desk out of the way so they could investigate the warehouse. Egon circled the room scanning for any sign of the troublesome entity. He got only slight readings as he crept closer to the door following as Ray slowly inched his way into the dark warehouse.

"Who turned out the lights?" Ray said, trying to hide his fright in a joking manner. He slid the Ecto Goggles from on top of his forehead down and tried to peer through them for any sign of the reckless spirit. Egon and Winston were silent as they looked around the small workspace. Ray switched on the flashlight he had clipped to his belt and scanned the room. Everything seemed unsettlingly quiet throughout the building.

"I'm getting a little something…" Egon said softly as he glanced up. The machines lay dormant and beyond repair in front of the three men. The room looked in even worse damage than the Ghostbusters had left it in on their previous visit. Dents and chunks of machinery had been pulled from the machines and strewn about on the floor along with the leftover debris from Melanie's capture.

"Hello…?" Ray called out cautiously. There was no sound in response, only the creaking of the wind blowing against the building outside.

"Ray!" Egon called from a few feet away next to the machine Melanie had been working near. He gestured for Ray and Winston to follow him towards the back of the warehouse.

"Hang on, Egon we're coming with the lights." Winston called as he too pulled out his flashlight. Egon still rushed ahead, following the whirring of the meter in his hand. The signal was growing stronger and stronger as he got closer to the back worktables where he had first encountered Melanie.

Ray stumbled over a box in the front as he hurried to catch up to the other two men. He kicked it out of his way and then froze as the warehouse door slammed shut behind them. He turned around and let his flashlight beam shine on the closed door. He hesitantly reached for the knob and found that it was ice cold. He attempted to open the door but just as he'd feared, it didn't budge. He sighed as he drew his proton gun and spun around to race after the others.

"Guys…!" He called. Egon and Winston turned to glance confusedly at Ray's sudden loud voice. Ray froze as he came upon the other two Ghostbusters. He could see through his goggles that a huge dark shape loomed up over the two men as they looked expectantly at him.

"I've got some major readings back here, Ray. But I don't see anything…" Egon said once again glancing down at the wild beeping of the meter in his hand. Ray dropped his flashlight and gawked up at the darkness, squinting to try and make out a distinct form amid the crawling blackness. He yanked his proton blaster up and automatically fired at the hovering shape as it lunged down at Egon and Winston.

"What the…?" Winston exclaimed as he dove to the ground. Egon was slammed against the ground by the force of the enshrouded ghoul.

"That's enough funny business, ghost!" Ray called out trying to sound brave. An echoing laughter sounded from behind him. Ray slowly turned and could see huge glowing red eyes amid the darkness above him.

"Ray look out!" Winston shouted as the shape fell upon the leader of the group. Ray's goggles were thrown off of his head and his proton gun fell out his grasp. He grabbed wildly for it as he hit the ground.

"Hang on, Ray!" Egon called from across the room. He had climbed back to his feet and had drawn his own blaster. He fired it at the swelling darkness, but it didn't seem to affect it.

"What is this thing?" Winston cried out as he too fired his proton stream at the attacker. Ray crawled out of the way, groaning in pain. He braced himself against a table as he pulled himself to his feet and held his damaged proton gun in his hands.

"I don't know – but we've got to figure out something…" Egon replied. The red eyes seemed to gleam in triumph at the Ghostbusters' uncertainty.

"I wish Pete was here…" Ray said as he grimaced in fear and fired his proton gun at the red eyes floating above them.


	20. Chapter 20 Convincing Peter

I paced around the upstairs room glancing at the clock wearily every time it ticked a minute by. My nerves were shaky and though I tried to hold it back, everything in the room was levitating above the tables and desks in the room. The lights were blinking on and off and every once in a while, one of the few doors around the room would slam shut and creak open again.

It was almost four thirty before I heard a door slam downstairs. My hold on the levitating objects dissipated and they fell back to their usual places. Hopeful, I rushed through the doorway and flew down the stairs. The car still hadn't returned but Peter was walking into the firehouse with another girl who I assumed was his girlfriend, Dana. They were laughing and he was making flirtatious remarks as he led her over to the stairs. I stepped away from the couple as they began their ascent and I moved to the large firehouse door to peak outside.

"Where are you guys?" I whispered worriedly as I pushed open the door and, careful not to step out of the building scanned the streets for any sign of the white flashy car. I let the door close as I turned back to the stairs where Peter and Dana had gone. I could still hear their muffled voices through the floorboards.

I closed my eyes and reappeared in the upstairs apartment where I could see Peter and Dana snacking on a bag of chips on the couch. I moved over to the computer where Ray had left the translator hooked up.

"Peter…?" I said hoping he would notice the computer typing behind him. He didn't. I pressed a few buttons and switched the volume on the computer to as high as it would go. "Peter!"

A shrill beeping noise pulsed through the room and Peter and Dana both covered their ears.

"What is that?!" Dana shrieked. Peter leaped off of the couch and spotted the computer behind me. He crossed the room and turned the volume down.

"Peter please listen to me." I said.

"Peter, what is it?" Dana asked as she watched him from over the back of the couch. He was about to turn around and go back to his spot next to her when he wearily stopped and waited for me to continue.

"Egon, Ray and Winston were called back to the warehouse. Margaret had been attacked by something and they went to investigate. They need your help…they've been gone for hours!" I said. The words trailed on for a few seconds across the screen and he silently read them. He glanced at the clock on the corner of the desk.

"The party starts in an hour, Melanie. They probably already headed over to Louis' apartment a little early. Stupid not to leave a note for me though. Come on, Dana." Peter turned around and grabbed his coat from the back of the couch.

"What?" Dana asked, confused. Peter shook his head and waved me off.

Fuming, I grabbed the computer mouse, yanked it free from where the cord was hooked up and threw it at the back of his head. He spun around staring at the empty space where I stood floating above the ground.

"Egon and Ray aren't gonna be happy you did that…" Peter grumbled rubbing the back of his head.

"Peter, what's going on?" Dana asked warily as she slowly rose from the couch.

"Egon's got a ghost loose in here and she's a bit of a pain." Peter said. I glared at him.

"They've been gone for _hours_!" I cried out again, pleading with him. He stepped over to the computer to see what I was saying.

"Yeah…you said that. What do you want me to do about it?" Peter asked sarcastically. I gritted my teeth in anger, the room shaking around us.

"Peter…" Dana said hesitantly as she stepped away from him and me.

"You need to go check it out." I ordered him.

"Okay…" He held up his hands in mock surrender. "You got any idea what I need to be prepared for?"

"I think I do." I said. The computer quietly showed my response. Peter glanced around waiting expectantly.

"Well…?" he prompted.

"Darkness. Cold, cruel, overwhelming, darkness." I said simply. He frowned.

"That's awfully helpful, Melanie…" He said as he slid his jacket on and headed for the staircase.

"No, Peter you don't understand!" I insisted, following him out. Dana rushed after us, her face full of questions. As he reached the foot of the stairs, Peter turned back to Dana and put his arms around her.

"Dana. I think you should stay here. I'll go catch up with the guys and we'll come back here to pick you up for the party." He kissed her lightly on the cheek and headed for the door.

I suddenly got an idea and teleported down to the basement and picked up the trap Egon had originally trapped me in. I appeared in front of Peter as he reached the door and he froze as he felt my hand on his chest stop him.

"Geez!" He cried out in surprise, leaping a foot back away from me. I threw the trap into his hands. He looked down at it confusedly and then looked back up to where he knew I was standing.

"Put me in the box." I said. Peter slowly knelt to the ground and set it on the floor of the firehouse.

"Um…you want to come with me…is that what I'm getting?" Peter called out looking all around him. I nodded and glanced over his shoulder to where Dana was clutching her hands to her chest in a mixture of fear and confusion. I closed my eyes as he pressed the pedal and the bright stifling purple flash swirled around me.


	21. Chapter 21 Just in Time

**Hey guys! I know this one is short and kinda ends in a cliff hanger but I wanted to post something on my birthday for ya'll to read. I've been really busy at work these past several weeks at work and I haven't found time to write much down but it's all coming together in my head! Hopefully I'll get back into my writing routine this weekend and I won't have to worry about running out of stuff to post. :D**

"It's no use, Egon…we can't beat this thing…" Ray said breathlessly as he fell to the ground wearily behind the machine Egon was hiding behind.

"I just found my P.K.E. meter under that table. It's busted but it still half works…maybe we can see how his strengths are radiating and then try to figure out what weaknesses he has?" Egon suggested as he tapped furiously on the device in his hands.

"You guys better figure something out fast! I don't know how much more fight I've got in me!" Winston called from the pile of boxes he had been thrown into.

"Have you tried the door? Maybe he'll be unable to follow us like Melanie was unable to leave." Egon asked. Ray shook his head dejectedly.

"No…it was locked up tight. There's no way out. We're fighting to our deaths here." Ray said. Egon grimaced.

The machine suddenly bucked and threw the two Ghostbusters face first into the hard floor. Ray whirled around and fired his proton stream at the misty blackness behind them. It still seemed to do no good against the foe they could hardly see. Laughter boomed off of the walls, and the already freezing temperature erupted into a supernatural wind blast.

Ray hauled Egon up from the cement floor and Winston followed them to the entrance door. In a last ditch effort, they pounded at the doorframe and called out desperately. The dark cloud settled down behind them, waiting for the chance to strike.

"Stand back!" A voice called from the other side of the door. Egon gave Ray a questioning look but they all moved around the corner of the door and pressed their backs against the wall.

The thick wooden door burst outward and the blackness separated to avoid it as the heavy door flew straight towards it. The monstrous smoke melted back together as the door smashed into pieces against the already damaged machines behind it.

"Got a present for ya, Ghosty!" Peter Venkman stepped into the room clad in his Ghostbusters uniform carrying a loaded trap.

"Pete!" Ray shouted gratefully.

"What took you so long?" Winston asked, still trying to catch his breath. Peter smirked.

"The missus wouldn't let me leave lunch early. Plus…your girlfriend took a while to convince me it was worth coming down here." Peter said thrusting the trap into Egon's hands. Egon gazed down at the trap warily.

"You brought Melanie?" Ray asked. Peter nodded.

"She said she wanted to help. I figured…if it's as bad as she was making it out to be, I might as well see if she'd be useful." he said.

The trap jerked in Egon's hands. He gripped it tighter, not wanting to expose Melanie to the monster in front of them.

"I think she wants out, Egon…" Winston said tapping the trap. Egon glanced at him wearily. He was about to say something when the machines sparked in front of them, some parts catching fire. The black inky darkness seemed to be getting stronger by the minute. There was no telling how much longer the four Ghostbusters could hold their own against it.

Egon gently set the device on the concrete floor and stepped back as he pushed the button to open the trap. Melanie burst forward, setting herself between the Ghostbusters and the enemy they had been fighting all afternoon. The room brightened slightly with the blinding blue glow that surrounded the girl.

The darkness actually seemed to hesitate as whatever it was spotted Melanie defending the Ghostbusters. She just floated in front of them, watching and waiting for the immense swirling mass to make a move. When the darkness finally dove forward trying to sneak above her, she threw out a large pulse that knocked it back. The monster seemed to fix its glowing red eyes on the ghost girl for a long moment before retreating to the back of the warehouse once more.


	22. Chapter 22 Melanie's Defense

**Hey guys! I'm starting to catch up on where I've stopped writing so I'll probably be pacing myself a little further apart on my upload dates. I've been trying to post around every 3-4 days but I think I'll try to do a weekly thing from now on. I don't know if my excitement can be contained that long though!**

 **Also, is anyone confused by my switching up on the point of view every now and then? I thought about that today at work and I honestly want to know how you guys are faring in keeping up with the flow of the story. Let me know! Now get to reading! :D**

I turned slowly to face the four Ghostbusters that huddled on the ground. Ray, Winston and Egon were all so disheveled that they looked like they'd been fighting a war. I moved towards Egon and Ray who I knew were the only ones able to listen to me.

"We've got to do something. What have you found that works?" I asked. Egon and Ray glanced at each other wearily.

"Nothing. Nothing we've done seems to be working at all." Ray said. I looked thoughtfully at Egon and then back to Ray.

"If we could get closer we might be able to see through that fog it's masking itself with." Egon suggested. I glanced at the ground and got an idea.

"Hey…give me one of your pack things. You guys can't get close to him…but maybe I can." I said. Egon's gaze turned severe.

"No…I don't think that would be a good idea." Egon said hurriedly. He shifted his gaze around at the men that were staring confusedly at him.

"Why not?" I asked. He looked back to me warily. I blinked, noticing real fear in his eyes.

"I don't want to see you hurt." He said quietly. Ray shot him a surprised glance. I raised my eyebrows.

"What can hurt me, Egon? I'm already dead, what worse could happen?" I asked, only slightly amused at his concern. Ray clapped a hand on Egon's shoulder.

"Spengler…we've got to let her try. We're all exhausted, here." Ray said. Egon glanced back to where Winston was leaning against Peter, clutching his injured shoulder. Peter was staring at the open trap on the floor thoughtfully. Egon looked back at me and Ray. I waited anxiously for his answer. Then slowly Egon nodded. I reached for his proton pack but he gently shoved my hands away. He gestured over to where Winston was removing his own pack.

"Winston, give us your proton pack! Melanie's going to try and go up against that demon thing." Ray called out. Winston handed his proton pack to Peter who walked over to join his colleagues while the injured man rested against the wall.

"I hope you know what you're doing…" Egon said as he carefully handed the pack to me.

I struggled to put the pack on, hoping that it wouldn't just phase through me and fall to the ground. I drew the blaster like Ray was holding his and I glanced down at the numerous buttons on the thing.

"You press that one to fire when you get close enough. Please be careful Melanie." Egon said. I could see the exhaustion and defeat in his eyes. I bit my lip, wanting to embrace him or say something but I was too afraid. I glanced over my shoulder to where I could see the flames licking up the sides of the already ruined machines. A huge clatter rang out from the back of the warehouse and I closed my eyes, trying to settle myself as the few shelves that were still standing against the wall behind me started rattling with my fear. I finally opened my eyes and stared at Egon carefully.

"I love you." I said quietly. His eyes softened a bit at that. I smiled reassuringly as I slowly turned to follow where the demon that haunted my warehouse had disappeared to. I could hear Egon, Ray and Peter sneaking along behind me.

"So…you've come back at last."

I stopped as my eyes fell upon the form that swirled amid the top of the shelf next to the garage door. I could see that a man-like shape hovered in the center of the inky darkness.

"Yes…I couldn't let you hurt my friends." I said, my voice sounding small compared to his. He laughed as he floated down to face me. I cringed as the coldness around me grew even more intense.

"I see that you were able to build up your strength in the short time you were gone." The demon said as his red eyes took me in. I set my jaw and glared at him.

"You were the one draining my energy the whole time…" I said in realization. His mouth spread into a ghoulish smile.

"Only for the past few weeks. You've hidden from me so well for so long. When I finally did find you, your spirit was so enticing…and then it grew even more with your emotions. You really should've learned to have better control over them, dearie." He reached a hand out to brush my cheek but I raised the proton gun in my hands and fired. He cried out in surprise, his features twisting into the monstrous face he hid so well beneath his human like façade.

"You won't touch me again…" I threatened as I shot towards him once more.

He was unable to dodge the wild stream I sent out and he was blasted against the wall behind him. He floated to the ground, briefly weakened and then slowly rose to face me once again with a devilish grin on his darkened face. Blackness still swirled around his pale frame and he sent a strong pulse of his own towards me. I fell off balance and the proton blaster slipped through my hands. I picked it up as he sent another wave rushing at me. I was thrown against the huge folding machine, the proton pack taking a lot of the damage. I fired blindly as I could feel his presence falling upon me again.

"I'd have thought with your strength back you'd hit harder…" The man laughed. I felt my chest tighten as I raised my hand to send out an energy pulse to get him away from me. But he grabbed my hand and I could suddenly feel all of the pain from the car crash return to me.

"Melanie!" Ray and Egon both shouted. Their streams shot past me but the monster holding me easily deflected them.

My head ached in pain and my left shoulder burned hot in agony. I cried out as my chest was overtaken by the feeling of the shrapnel from my windshield. I jerked my hand away and glared up at the demonic face in front of me. His eyes widened in slight surprise as I fired the proton blaster once more, sending him flying against the back wall and into the metal shelving. I whirled around and closed my eyes to center myself as the pain faded back in numbness. Then when I opened my eyes, I turned to the Ghostbusters behind me.

"I have an idea!" I shouted down to where Egon, Ray and Peter were watching in fearful wonder. I pointed towards the garage door. "Open that door! The sunlight can chase away the darkness that's surrounding him!"

"Guys! The building is burning!"

I glanced back as Winston stumbled to the other three Ghostbusters. I looked back and noticed that the warehouse was indeed filling with black smoke, similar to that from the demon.

I flew across to where I had seen the monster hit the wall. The shelving had caved in on him but I knew he would only be stunned for a few more minutes. I stood between where he lay and where the Ghostbusters were running to push the door open. The shelving suddenly exploded outward and I sent a small pulse around the four men behind me to protect them from the flying debris.

"I guess I spoke too soon…you do have a fighting spirit in you. All the more reason to want you…"

The darkness swirled around the form of the man as he slowly rose into the air. I shot another burst towards the monster and saw that Ray, Egon and Peter joined in. Together we were able to entrap him, but just barely. I swung my proton stream towards the open garage door where the sunlight was barely hanging over the horizon. The shadows started to melt away, leaving the silhouette of the man caught in our proton streams. Just when I thought my hastily made up plan was working, the man paused to smile evilly down at me before sending a pulse outward to break the streams that were holding him.

"Wonderful idea, Melanie! You just provided your friends with an escape route!" His voice boomed. He spread his arms out towards where I stood floating a few feet above the ground, backed by the Ghostbusters. Suddenly the smoke filled warehouse filled with the shouts and fearful cries of the four men behind me. I spun around in time to see them hit the floor with the force of the demon's energy pulse. I holstered my proton blaster and grabbed for Egon's hand since he was the closest to me.

"Ow…Melanie…" Egon exclaimed as he endured the shock caused by my touch. I shifted my grip to his sleeve, grasping his wrist through the fabric. As the other Ghostbusters struggled to hang on to the tables and overturned shelves around them, the monster above us sent out another pulse. Fire suddenly blasted from the front of the warehouse and towards the back in a whirlwind of flames and ash. The other three Ghostbusters were thrown through the open garage door and into the alley outside.

"Hold on!" I yelled at Egon. A huge burst of flames flew towards us and I barely managed to send an energy pulse against it to protect him.

"Melanie! Egon!" I heard Ray call. I glanced up to see the three Ghostbusters outside once again on their feet and running back for the warehouse.

I hauled Egon up and tried to pull him away from the rapidly increasing flames towards the open air in the streets. We were almost there when I noticed the sun starting to dip slowly down behind the skyline of the city. I pulled Egon along even faster and just as we were about to reach the street outside, the door slammed down in front of us.


	23. Chapter 23 Fighting Death

**I know this chapter is SUPER long compared to what I've posted for the past few weeks, but I just couldn't seem to find places good enough to break it up! So I hope this chapter isn't too overwhelming for anyone...if it is...I apologize. :)**

 **As always, I would really appreciate any thoughts, ideas or even questions about this story. Let me know what you think!**

"No!" I screamed as I sent a pulse against the door. It didn't even make a dent as I slammed my fists against it.

Egon switched on his proton pack and fired at the door. I cringed at the screeching metal sound it made but I quickly realized that it was having no effect on the possessed door. I fired my own proton stream as well, but even that did no good.

"You've doomed yourself and your friend…"

I whirled around and fired at the silhouetted man, once again surrounded by shadows. He dodged out of the way and his laugh bounced off of the walls, over the raging fire. Egon turned and fired his own stream at the man, producing an annoyed scowl from the demon. The shadows parted to rush at Egon with full force.

"Watch out!" I choked as Egon was thrown against the already overturned shelves. I sent out the strongest pulse of energy I could conjure and shot the proton stream at the man. His red eyes widened in alarm as he was sent sprawling into the flames licking up from a nearby machine. He hit the burning machine and a flash of sparks rose up with his fall.

I rushed over to where Egon lay unconscious near the pile of broken shelves. I dropped the proton gun and heard it clatter to the ground beside me. I shook the proton pack from off of my shoulders and shoved it away as I grabbed Egon's shoulders and hoisted his head into my lap, not caring if my touch shocked him. I unhooked his proton pack from its grip on his shoulders and gently kicked it away from him.

"Egon! Egon listen to me, wake up!" I called, trying to shield him from the surrounding flames and exploding debris. I cupped his face with my hands but there was no reaction from him.

"Egon! This isn't the time to wanna have some privacy…tell your girlfriend to open the door!" I heard Peter yell from the outside of the building.

"We can't!" I screamed back. I could hear the three Ghostbusters pounding on the metal garage door and then what sounded like their proton streams hitting the side of the building. I shook my head in disbelief and slapped Egon's face lightly. There was still no response and I could feel the walls trembling from my peaking nerves.

"Melanie, what's happening?!" I heard Ray call.

"Egon's hurt! I…I don't know what to do!" I yelled, hearing my voice shake. I looked back down to where Egon still lay unmoving. I lowered my head to his chest fearing the worst.

"Hang on! We're going around the front!" Ray shouted.

"Egon, please don't die on me…" I whispered. I could faintly hear his heartbeat. I jerked my head up as another explosion rang out from across the warehouse. I hurriedly dragged Egon away from the worst of the flames and leaned back against the garage door, his head still in my lap. I stroked his hair in what I meant to be a soothing way, silently hoping that Peter, Ray and Winston would find a way to get Egon out in time.

"If only I had found you sooner…then all of this mess wouldn't have happened."

I glared up at the floating silhouette of the demon in front of me. He motioned around himself and the shadows evaporated. He landed lightly on the ground and I was able to really see him clearly for the first time. He wore a dark neatly kept suit that fit snugly on his thin form. A deep red tie completed his look. His jet black hair framed his pale features, and his red eyes seemed to shine with pity.

"What do you mean?" I asked warily, keeping my guard up. "Who are you?"

"Death." He said simply. I tried to conceal my confusion behind my anger. He stepped closer.

"I'm already dead!" I cried. "What more do you want from me?"

He stopped and studied me for a long moment, his red eyes glimmering.

"You got away from me too quickly after you died. I should have known you would come here."

"W-what are you talking about?" I was beginning to get scared.

"You don't remember slipping away from me? I suppose not. Your need for normalcy and the fear of moving on didn't appeal to you, did it?" He growled. I shook my head, not knowing whether to trust him or not.

"What do you want?" I repeated, the fear in my voice slipping through my façade. He smirked and his red eyes flashed. He took another step towards where I huddled against the door with Egon. I sat up straighter, ready to defend Egon if Death moved any closer.

"Ghosts tend to lose their humanity after dying. You wonder why your Ghostbusters haven't encountered other spirits like you before now? It's because I've been doing my job keeping it that way. Until I lost track of you those two years ago. But that's been set straight now…" He moved even closer.

I instinctively shot a supersonic burst of energy towards him. He deflected it with a swipe of his hand and continued advancing my way.

"Unbelievable. You're trying to protect him."

"I love him…" I insisted angrily. Death's eyes flashed in fury.

"You can't love him! Don't you see?"

I rose to my feet, floating a foot above the ground and collected as much energy as I could muster and prepared to send out another flash of energy at him. He held up his hand to stop me.

"You may want to look behind you before doing that, darling…" He hissed. I paused and slowly turned around.

Egon stood floating a few inches from the ground, looking down at his body on the floor. He was nothing but a shadowy figure amidst the flickering firelight from the warehouse.

"No…" I whispered in disbelief. His eyes were pitying as he looked up at me silently. I flew to where his body still lay against the door. I grabbed him into my lap once more, my chest feeling tight.

"Melanie…" I heard his voice coming from behind me.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt his hand on my shoulder. It was the first time he had ever solidly touched me. I shook my head and looked down into his paling face. I slowly raised my hand and placed it against his chest.

"Melanie please…" He begged from behind me.

"Not like this…" I moaned. I couldn't force myself to turn my head. I summoned all of the energy I had been prepared to throw at Death and watched as my hand phased through Egon's chest. My vision blurred as a flash of blue spiraled across the room. The light touch on my shoulder disappeared.

Suddenly Egon's eyes flew open and he jerked upright. He clutched at his chest as he gasped for breath. His fear filled eyes met mine with shock. I smiled, relief washing over me.

 _"_ _Melanie!"_ Death's voice growled in disgust.

I was violently dragged away from Egon and thrown against a burning shelf. It collapsed around me. I phased through it and rose above the flames, glaring at the man standing between me and Egon.

"You risk yourself and your power to save this living man?" His glowing red eyes flashed in hatred. I met his gaze equally.

"Yes, of course." I replied trying to keep my voice steady. He sent out a force that knocked me against the brick wall. I winced as I floated back up to face him once more, feeling that I had no power left to fight him with.

"He's going to die anyway!" Death shouted at me.

 _"_ _Not by your hand!"_ I screamed back. Death was suddenly at my side and grasping my throat, his red eyes gleaming with his fury.

"I _will_ break you…like all of the others…" He growled. I met his red eyes with equally matched fury.

"I _won't_ become a mindless monster like all of those others!" I insisted.

He threw me into one of the machines and sparks exploded around me. I lay there, half phased through the sputtering machine, clawing to get out of the fire. I couldn't feel the heat, but the feeling of the flames raging through me left me even weaker. I made a dash for the garage door where Egon now stood looking around wildly.

"Egon!" I hissed as I grabbed for his hand. I felt myself fade into what he had called my ghost dimension. Blue mist swirled around us and the crashing sounds and blinding light of the fires raging around us dulled.

"Melanie, what happened? Was I…"

"Yes." I said, scanning the room for any sign of Death.

"Am I…"

"No." I said turning to look at him. His eyes were wide behind his glasses as he studied me. Realization quickly took the place of his fear.

"How did you do that?" His voice lowered. I looked down at my hands and then gently placed my palm into his, giving him a little shock.

"You know those defibrillator things they use in hospitals? I figured since it's like a shock when I touch someone…charged up as I was…it would have the same effect." I looked into his deep brown eyes. He raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly.

"I…I could feel you, Melanie." He said quietly. I thought back to when I felt his hand on my shoulder. I bit my lip and forced my eyes away from him.

"I know…I felt you too." I whispered. I raised my hand to touch his face lightly. He didn't shy away from me. I smiled sadly and opened my mouth to say something else when suddenly the roar of the fire and the brightness of the flickering flames exploded through the quiet blue calm of my ghost dimension.

"What…?" Egon asked, glancing around at the sudden change.

"I didn't do that…" I said slowly. That was when I started feeling funny. I looked down at my hands confusedly. Their normal transparent paleness had transformed into solid flesh. I fell to the hard concrete floor, feeling my knees collide painfully with the ground.

"Melanie!" Egon exclaimed as he rushed to catch me. I stumbled against him and fell into his arms weakly.

"Not now…" I breathed and I clutched at my chest where my heart had started to beat painfully. I grasped for Egon's sleeve, feeling the rough fabric beneath my fingers. I let out a sigh of relief and hugged him tightly.

"How is this possible?" Egon asked as he hesitantly returned my embrace.

"'The spirits of the grave rise up on All Hallows' Eve…' I kept telling you." I breathed into his shoulder. I could feel his slight laugh as I squeezed him tighter, not wanting to let go.

"I figured you'd be forced out of your hiding place when sundown came."

I wearily turned to see Death strolling casually over to where Egon and I crouched on the ground in each other's arms. I clung to Egon even tighter and felt my heartbeat quicken. Death stopped right in front of us and closed his eyes, as if he were listening. Egon put his arm around me protectively.

"Leave her alone." Egon said warningly. Death's red eyes flew open and he stared down in amusement at Egon who flinched under his gaze.

"Who are you to stop me?" The man scoffed. Egon helped me shakily to my feet as we backed away from him. Death raised his hands and the fire swirled around us blocking our path.

"Stop! Please!" I begged. The man's eyes softened slightly. He held out his hand to me and the fire parted. I stood frozen staring at him in disbelief. He beckoned me over to him, but I didn't move, my hand clasped in Egon's.

"Don't do it, Melanie." Egon murmured. I looked up to him sadly. He tore his gaze away from the glowing man in front of us to meet my gaze.

"What choice do we have?" I squeaked. He looked back at Death who was waiting patiently several feet in front of us. I touched Egon's cheek gently and then pulled my hand out of his grip.

As I walked over to the man in front of me, the flames swirled back behind me as if telling me I couldn't turn back. I coughed slightly as I inhaled the smoke but kept moving forward. I fixed my face into a cold stare as I approached Death.

"Well?" I said icily as I stopped a few feet in front of him. His glowing red eyes landed on me for a long moment, a teasing glare to them.

"You know what I want." He growled. I looked back to where Egon stood, separated from me with the fires. Death seemed to make the flames flare up dramatically as I glanced back.

"You can't hurt him." I begged. Death looked taken aback. He crossed his arms across his chest and stroked his chin thoughtfully. I held firmly in place as he slowly circled around me.

"You're not even bargaining for yourself anymore…what's changed?" He asked interest dripping from his voice. I turned my head to meet him as he once more stepped in front of me.

"If…you let me have this last Halloween night alive…I'll go with you. I'll do whatever you say, if you'll just spare them." I said, feeling my eyes well up with emotional tears. He seemed to consider my offer. My heart thumped wildly in my chest with fear.

Death slowly reached up and brushed a lock of brown wavy hair out of my face. I flinched under his cold touch but I refused to pull away. I forced myself to keep my eyes level with his. He scoffed as he saw that I was feigning bravery. His hand was suddenly at my neck and I was lifted off of the ground and into the air.

"Can't…breathe…" I gasped as I clawed at his hands desperately. He laughed and then squeezed my throat shut tighter.

"Funny how weak you realize human life really is when you've been dead for so long…" His red eyes bore down into me and I kicked wildly at the open air.

"Melanie!" I heard Egon yell. I squeezed my eyes shut and swung my fist towards the man holding me. My arm passed right through him with a cold shock that left my whole body tingling.

"Please!" I begged as I felt myself getting weaker with the lack of oxygen. His hand tilted me closer to his face. I heard the structure of the warehouse groaning as the foundation and support beams around the building weakened as they burned. I heard a booming crash and I kicked and clawed at Death even more violently.

"Let go…" His voice echoed around me. I gasped for another breath of air but his freezing cold fingers clasped my throat even tighter. I felt my body go limp in his grasp. My vision blurred and I tried desperately to stay awake. Suddenly the sound of a proton stream whizzing by me brought me back to my senses.

"Hey Ghost girl!"

I opened my eyes into slits as I was whirled as Death turned to see who the new voice belonged to.

Peter, Ray and Winston stood alongside Egon in the worst of the blaze. Egon and Winston had picked up their proton packs and both of them were aiming towards where Death was holding me. I felt my heart leap in hope at the sight of the four Ghostbusters in their fighting stances.

"Hold on, Melanie!" I heard Ray shout up over the roar of the fires.

Peter stood in front of something that looked like a button connected to a long wire that led under where Death floated near the ceiling of the warehouse. My eyes widened as I realized they had positioned a trap beneath me…again. A sudden flash of purple light enveloped me and my attacker. I took a quick gulp of air and screamed as Death's hold on my throat disappeared, leaving me falling from the top of the warehouse to the ground below.


	24. Chapter 24 Close Call

"Venkman, no! She's alive!" Egon shouted as Peter aimed his proton gun at the solidified man that held Melanie. Egon grabbed for Peter's proton gun just as he fired and jerked his aim off course. His proton stream hit the far right corner where a number of worktables stood burning. The already weakened tables flew into the wall of the building and hit the major support beams in the corner.

"Take cover!" Ray shouted as the beams cracked and fell in. The wall and part of the ceiling groaned as the weight shifted from the beam to thin air. A huge chunk of the roof fell through and the Ghostbusters shielded their faces as the falling metal and wood stirred up sparks and ashes.

"You idiot! You don't think I know she's alive? I can see her! Winston can see her! Look at what you made me do!" Peter yelled. Egon looked around from where he had crouched to avoid the collapse and then looked apologetically at Peter.

"New plan!" Ray shouted as they regrouped away from the worst of the blazing fires around them.

"How about we use this?" Peter said as he unclipped a trap from the back of his proton pack. Ray, Winston and Egon all gawked at him in surprise.

"Where did you get that?" Ray asked. Peter thumbed over his shoulder.

"It's the one I used to bring Melanie here. It was laying there on the floor untouched so I figured…" he shrugged.

"It might work. I don't know though…" Ray said hesitantly.

"'Might' works for me." Winston said optimistically.

"I don't know guys…this is Death we're talking about. I doubt our simple traps can contain him for long if at all." Egon said as he glanced up to where the man stood floating in midair still holding Melanie by her throat. She had seemed to have stopped fighting him now, which couldn't be good.

"Death? As in, _the_ Death?" Ray asked. Egon nodded.

"We're taking too long. You wanna save the girl or not, Egon?" Peter interrupted as he walked past them unwinding the trap.

"Alright guys, let's go beat this thing." Ray said as he followed Peter through the burning wreckage. He fired his proton gun at a falling piece of ceiling before it could hit the ground.

"Hey Ghost girl!" Peter yelled as he slid the trap under Death. Death whirled around angrily and he seemed outraged that the Ghostbusters had found their way inside the building after he'd tried to keep them out.

"Melanie, hang on!" Ray shouted as he motioned for Peter to open the trap. Before Death could have a chance to react, Peter slammed his foot down and the four men all turned their heads as the trap opened, emitting its bright flash of light.

Death released his hold on Melanie and disappeared in the flash of purple.

"Melanie!" Egon yelled as he ran forward. Ray and Winston followed with him and they were all three knocked to the ground with the weight of her fall.

"Is she okay?" Winston asked as he lifted her leg off of him. Ray had taken most of the blow and was left holding her torso as he moved to cradle her head. Egon moved to her side and looked into her face worriedly.

"She's alive." Ray said in wonder. He grabbed her wrist and could feel her weak pulse. He grinned excitedly.

"Hey…she's kinda cute, Egon." Peter said as he walked over to join the group crowded around the unconscious girl. Egon flashed him an unamused glance before raising a hand to Melanie's forehead. He gently brushed the hair stuck to her face aside and smiled slightly.

Her face was warm and soft to the touch. Egon stroked her cheek soothingly, staring down at her, willing her to open her eyes and look up at him with her excited intensity. After several long seconds, he began to get worried.

Suddenly his smile fell.

"Ray, she's not breathing."

"We've got to get her out of here. It's gotta be the smoke." Ray said as he carefully helped situate Melanie in Egon's arms. Peter scooped up the loaded trap as they rushed for the front of the warehouse.

"Look out!" Winston yelled as the other men halted in their tracks and jumped back as another support beam from the ceiling collapsed in their path. Egon whirled around and followed the other Ghostbusters to the back of the building.

Ray, Winston and Peter all fired their proton streams at the huge garage door and weren't surprised when it gave way easily. The door exploded outward and slammed into the building next door across the alley. They all rushed out of the warehouse and Egon gently settled Melanie on the sidewalk outside when they had all reached the car at the front of the building a safe distance away.

"Melanie…wake up, come on." Egon said. He knelt over her as the other Ghostbusters removed their proton packs and placed them on the ground next to the Ecto-1.

"CPR, man, CPR." Peter said.

Egon placed his hands on her chest and was prepared to perform the steps of resuscitating Melanie when she suddenly gasped in a lungful of air and jerked upright, nearly head-butting Egon. Ray, Peter and Winston all jumped back in surprise.

"E-Egon?" Melanie coughed. Her blue-green eyes looked wildly around as she noticed the other three Ghostbusters looking down at her expectantly. She smiled slightly and relaxed into Egon's hold. "Thank goodness you're okay…"

"Shhh…it's alright." Egon said. She closed her eyes wearily and smirked.

"Just trying to keep you guys on your toes." She breathed. Peter scoffed.

"Hey Ghost girl, wanna explain how you're…here?" Peter asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Melanie looked up into his eyes slowly, her smile fading. She blinked at him and then looked away.

"It's…it's temporary." She murmured. The Ghostbusters were silent as they waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't say anything for several long seconds, Ray moved forward and offered Egon a hand to help him up.

"Well guys…if we go now, we'll have time to clean up a bit for Louis' party." Ray said. Egon took Ray's hand and helped Melanie up as gently as he could. Melanie laughed slightly as he watched her stand shakily on her feet.

"I'm not going to break, Egon." She said quietly. Egon smirked as he turned to open the car door for her. As he did Melanie glanced behind her to where the warehouse still burned.

Death stood among the flames staring evenly at her with his glowing red eyes. She swallowed hard and then nodded slowly at something unspoken between them. He disappeared in a swirl of black smoke as she turned back to Egon with a beaming smile on her face once more.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded and took his hand, preparing to step into the car. The screeching sirens of firetrucks and police cars made her pause.

"Finally! What took you so long?" Peter called as the men piled out of their vehicles to do their jobs. Ray and Peter moved over to talk to the men, leaving Winston loading up the proton packs and equipment in the back of the Ecto-1. Egon stood with Melanie who was staring curiously at Ray and Peter as they explained the situation to the authorities who were writing down their statements and nodding understandably.

A group of firefighters rushed to the building with a huge firehose and starting shooting at the blaze. One of the younger firefighters stood back away from the building watching the others work. His gaze drifted over to the Ghostbusters' car and then his eyes widened as he spotted Melanie. He studied her curiously for a moment before walking over to where she stood watching the other firefighters at work containing the burning warehouse.

"Hey…do you need any help over here?" He asked shyly.

Melanie glanced up at the young man and then back to Egon who was waiting for her reaction. She slowly looked back to the firefighter and shook her head.

"I think we're good here, thanks." Egon said. The young firefighter nodded but stared at Melanie as if trying to remember something. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and stepped closer to Egon, clinging to his arm.

"I'm sorry…do I know you?" The man asked. Melanie studied his face for a moment and suddenly her eyes widened.

"Um…no…I…" She stammered. She looked around quickly as if trying to avoid the man's intense gaze. His face suddenly broke into a wide grin.

"You've been in a car accident before, haven't you? That's always the reaction I get from someone I've helped out of one!" He laughed. Melanie's face paled with fear as the memory hit her. Egon glanced between the two of them, putting the situation together. He cleared his throat and patted Melanie's hand on his arm gently.

"I think they may need some more help over there, thank you for checking on us though." Egon said dismissively. The man nodded slightly, giving one last confused glance at Melanie who was staring worriedly after him. Egon looked back down at her as the man left.

"I recognized him." She said quietly. She watched as the young firefighter ran over to one of the trucks to join the others.

"From where?" Egon asked, though he had speculated the answer.

"The crash. He was there as I died." She whispered. Her eyes glistened with tears as she remembered. Egon nodded and wrapped her in a reassuring hug as she stared after the firefighter.

"Come on, guys. They've got this under control, I think." Ray said, waving back at the chief. He ducked into the driver's seat and Egon moved to help Melanie into the car. Winston got into the passenger's seat and Peter piled into the back with Egon and Melanie. Peter flashed a smile at Melanie as he shut the car door behind him.

"What's the matter, Ghost girl? You don't wanna come home with us now?" Peter joked. Melanie smirked back at him, wiping the few tears that had managed to fall off of her face.

"No, I'm fine with that." She said contentedly. She settled into Egon's shoulder and hesitantly reached for his hand. He jumped slightly at her touch, and then he looked down and met her eyes, smiling warmly. He threaded his fingers through hers and she leaned her head against his shoulder, staring excitedly out the car window at the passing city.


	25. Chapter 25 The Drive Home

**I promise I've been writing new stuff this week! I'm in a panic, worried that I'm running out of content to post! So for the past few nights, even though I have to get up early in the morning for work, I've stayed up til midnight writing. I'll try to write more while I'm gone on a quick Spring Break vacation later this week.**

 **Work at the embroidery warehouse is still pretty hectic right now...I'm exhausted! For the past three weeks they had me running polo shirts and this week they switched me back to belts. Back and forth, back and forth...I feel like I'm losing my mind some days, ya'll! Oh well...I know you don't care to hear me ranting so I'll cut this short for now. As always, please let me know what you think! I still haven't heard anything so...please? :D**

"How is she?" Ray asked from the driver's seat after a while. Egon glanced up to see that Ray was looking at him in the rearview mirror. Egon looked down to where Melanie still lay curled up in the seat beside him.

"She's asleep." Egon said softly. He flashed a brief glance to Peter, who hadn't taken his eyes off of the girl for the whole twenty minute ride so far.

"How exactly did this happen, Egon?" Peter finally asked when he was reassured that Melanie was sleeping. Egon frowned wearily.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the least likely of the four of us _Ghost_ busters falls for a ghost. The one thing we're paid to fight. And it just so happens to be you - the one who just a few years ago told off the one girl who had eyes for you. Remember how you said it? You wanted to 'focus more on your work.' Jeanine didn't take that very well." Peter settled back against the door of the car and kicked his feet up on the empty seat beside him. Egon glared at him.

"Pete, leave him alone." Ray said softly from the front seat. Peter flicked his gaze to Ray for a brief second and then looked back at Egon.

Egon was gazing down at Melanie who had wrapped her arm around his waist in her sleep. He brushed the hair out of her face and she shifted slightly and moved closer to him. Egon smirked.

"It might not be a bad thing. She did save his life in there. I mean, I wasn't able to see much but that's what it looked like to me, anyway." Winston piped up. He turned around in the passenger seat to see Egon's reaction.

"Hey…yeah. I was meaning to ask you about that, Egon. What was that all about? Are you okay?" Ray asked. Egon was silent for a long moment. He didn't think the other Ghostbusters had been in the building when he had been so near death.

"I was…momentarily down for the count and she helped me up." Egon said, not wanting to think too much about his experience just yet. Ray stomped on the brakes as he hit a red light. He whirled around, eyes wide and faced Egon.

"You were dead, Egon! You were on the ground - Melanie crouched over you, with your shadow standing behind her." Ray said seriously. Egon had instinctively wrapped his arms around Melanie so she didn't end up in the floor of the car with Ray's reckless driving.

"Yeah, ya gotta admit, that was pretty freaky." Winston said.

"We couldn't even see her, but that light show she put on was pretty wild." Peter said lightheartedly. Egon's shoulders slumped and he finally summoned up his curiosity about what had happened.

"It was strange…it's like one moment I was up and fighting and the next, I wasn't. And then I was standing behind her…only…she looked different. It was like looking at her like I'm looking at her right now. She's solid, life-like…whereas before…"

"She was a ghost. Sometimes you could see through her, other times she had a glow about her that just seemed off. Am I getting that right?" Ray contributed as he moved through the intersection at a slower pace so as not to disturb Melanie sleeping in the backseat.

"Yeah…" Egon said quietly. "And I could feel her. She was scared and it was like I could sense that. I can't describe how it felt. And then suddenly the pain hit me and I was back." He looked back down to where Melanie had snuggled deeper into his chest.

"How long is she going to be like this, do you think?" Peter finally said. Egon frowned slightly.

"I'm not sure. I kept dismissing what she said every time she mentioned something like this, thinking she just wanted us to take her to that party." Egon said apologetically. Peter scoffed.

"Well this relationship seems to be off to a great start."

"Hey man, you can't say anything. Look at how your relationship with Dana Barrett started out! She turned into a dog on your first date." Winston said, raising an eyebrow. Peter's smirk faded and he crossed his arms in a childlike manner and pretended to pout.

"That's…different." He mumbled. The other three Ghostbusters laughed quietly as they continued their drive back towards the firehouse.


	26. Chapter 26 Meeting Dana

**I know I just posted a new chapter a few days ago, but I'm going to be at a concert tonight and I'll be going out of town for the next few days. I don't know if I'll be able to have good access to the internet from my laptop. so just to be safe I'm going to leave this here. If I do get a chance, I'll post the next chapter maybe Saturday or Sunday. Enjoy! :)**

"We're here!" Ray called out, jostling me from the brink of sleep. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked to get rid of my exhaustion. I peered through the car window, and could see in the glow of the streetlights that we were back at the Ghostbusters' firehouse. I scanned the building, taking it all in. It was the first time I'd seen the outside of the building. It towered three stories up above the street and I was surprised that I hadn't thought to explore the inside of it before. I smiled at the little Ghostbusters sign that was swinging above the garage doors.

"Um…Melanie…?"

I suddenly realized that sometime during the car ride back to the firehouse, my head had moved from Egon's shoulder to his chest. He had his arms wrapped around me and I was now preventing him from moving. I glanced over at Peter who was flashing an amused smirk at me. I felt myself blush as I sat up and turned to face Egon apologetically.

"Sorry…I didn't think I'd really fall asleep that quickly." I muttered. Egon smiled and pushed the car door open.

I turned back to Peter who hadn't gotten out of his side of the car. He was still staring at me, which made me feel a little uncomfortable.

"Hey Ghost girl…how old are you?" Peter finally asked as I took Egon's hand and stepped out of the car. I turned back to him and hesitated before answering.

"Twenty-four." I said. He scoffed. I frowned and then placed a hand on my hip. "Why is that funny?"

"No, no…I was just wondering if you're factoring in the few birthdays you've spent as one of the undead." He got out of the car finally, a teasing grin still on his face. I narrowed my eyes at him, unamused. Egon took my arm and pulled me away from Peter who was still trying to stifle his laughter.

"Ignore him. That's what I do." Egon said supportively as he led me towards the door to the firehouse.

I shivered in the cool October night air and remembered that I still had no shoes on my feet. My jeans and t-shirt were smudged with soot and dirt from the warehouse fire. Egon seemed to notice the change in me.

"We'll find you a change of clothes while you get cleaned up." He offered. I smiled thankfully up at him as he opened the door for me.

"Good, you're back. Louis keeps calling and…" Dana Barrett stopped her trek from across the room when she saw that there was a stranger with the Ghostbusters. Her eyes stayed glued to me curiously before Peter shoved his way through and ran to meet her.

"Hi Dana…you remember that pesky ghost that was giving us some trouble a little while ago?" Peter said as he gently kissed Dana on the cheek. She nodded, still looking at me. Peter gestured back towards me. "Well, that's her. Dana, I'd like you to meet Egon's girlfriend."

I froze and glanced sideways up to see Egon's equally rigid reaction.

"This is Melanie." Egon said softly. I smiled warmly as Dana hesitantly approached me and offered me her hand.

"Nice to meet you." I said eagerly. "I mean…in person. I kind of saw you earlier."

Dana's face was full of confusion, yet she seemed perfectly at ease with the circumstances. She turned back to Peter who slid his arm around her waist.

"What were you saying when we walked in, Dana?" Ray asked. Dana's eyes flickered to him and she suddenly was pulled out of her daze.

"Louis has been calling the whole time you've been gone. I told him you were busy but he was so intent on you guys being there. He may have been wanting you to come and liven up the party, because it sounded pretty dead over there." Dana's gaze flew over to me and her eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry…"

Peter burst into laughter. I fidgeted uncomfortably but couldn't stop the slow smile as it spread across my face. I looked up to see that Ray, Egon and Winston were all looking for my reaction, and as I began to laugh they all smiled in relief.

"Come on, Melanie. You can have first dibs on the shower." Egon said as he shoved me up the stairs.

"Oh…I have some of my shampoo and stuff up there in the cabinet. I leave it here just in case sometimes…you're welcome to use it." Dana called up after me. I turned around and gave her a grateful smile.

"Thanks!" I said. I could still feel all of the other Ghostbusters staring after me as Egon and I reached the top of the staircase. I guess they were still a little shocked to see a ghost come to life in front of them.

"I'll find you a change of clothes while you're in there." Egon said. I smiled and then nodded as I slipped into the bathroom. Before I shut the door I turned around and hesitated.

"Hey, Egon?"

He turned to face me. I looked down at the floor for a few seconds before raising my gaze back to his.

"Um…are you okay? After the…you know…?" I asked quietly. He blinked in surprise and then slightly rolled his shoulders as if testing the movement.

"I really didn't think much about it yet, to be honest." He said simply. He smirked and I couldn't resist smiling back at him. I closed the door and then hurriedly rushed to the shower after grabbing the floral scented shower gels and shampoo from one of the cabinets.


	27. Chapter 27 Egon's Talk with Ray

**Once again, I apologize for my lack of creativity in chapter titles. I was busy enjoying Spring Break at Myrtle Beach but I couldn't seem to completely tear myself away from coming up with ideas for this story! I'm sure a lot of people thought I was a little crazy when they saw a girl in a black T shirt with "Got Ghosts?" written across the front walking down the beach and later driving a golf cart with the Ghostbusters logo on the sides. I'm pretty obsessed!**

 **Please let me know if you guys have any ideas at all with how I should go with this story...I'd really like to know! (I need all the help I can get!)**

Egon rummaged through the closet looking for a change of clothes for Melanie as she showered in the next room. He finally found an old cardboard box and, on a hunch opened it to find dozens of T shirts with the Ghostbusters logo on it. He smirked and chose a large one, something that would be comfortable for her to wear. He also grabbed a pair of pajama pants from his dresser drawer. He glanced down at what he had chosen for her and then finally turned back and switched the closet light off.

"Hey Egon, I wanted to ask you something."

He nearly jumped a foot in the air when he saw that Ray was standing behind him.

"Sorry." Ray said quietly.

"What is it?" Egon asked as he walked across the bedroom and towards the lab with Ray following him.

"I just…I know you already kinda talked about it but…what exactly happened in the warehouse tonight?" Ray said. Egon gave him a confused glance and set the clothes on the back of the couch as he turned to face Ray.

"Well, a lot happened at the warehouse tonight, Ray…what part are you referring to?"

"The part where you died and then Melanie brought you back."

Egon's shoulders slumped and he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He glanced around, but neither Winston nor Peter or Dana were anywhere in the room. He looked back at Ray who was studying him worriedly.

"Spengler, I saw Melanie and then your ghost appeared behind her. She was glowing and everything! And then your ghost flashes as blue as her hands and suddenly you're alive again? You've gotta admit, that was pretty eerie. How did she do it?" Ray asked, pressing him.

"She said she shocked me back to life. I really haven't had a chance to think about it too much, it was kind of sudden." Egon said. He gently rubbed his chest where the cold tingling feeling had emanated from, bringing him back down to earth as it were. Ray nodded slightly in understanding.

"Well, as long as you're alright…"

"Yeah everything seems to be fine now." Egon said and he smiled at his friend's concern.

"Hey, maybe now you've got a first-hand account of what the other side is like!" Ray said excitedly.

"We already have that, remember? Melanie's helping us." Egon said. Ray rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but now we've got your point of view! Don't you understand what this means?!" Ray was rummaging through the bookshelves in the corner of the room, flipping through books as he tried to prove his point. Egon smirked.

"Yeah it's great, Ray…really. I plan on running a few tests with Melanie when she gets out of the shower. Blood samples, testing her molecular activity…now that she's alive I think we can get better results." Egon said. Ray snapped a book shut and stared up at him.

"You mean, you're not coming with us?" Ray asked, looking like a heartbroken puppy. Egon tilted his head to the side.

"Where?"

"To the party. Peter called Louis back telling him that as soon as we finished up here, we'd be on our way over. Peter and Dana even went back to her apartment to find a change of clothes for Melanie."

Egon glanced back towards the bedroom where he could hear that the shower had cut off, and then met Ray's hopeful eyes sheepishly.

"Well…I still don't think it would be a good idea to take her out anywhere. Who knows how long this could last? She did say it was only temporary."

"You know that Louis isn't going to be happy when he doesn't get the full set of Ghostbusters to show up. But…I guess he can be made to understand. Your ghost has come to life for the night and you want to stay here and spend time with her." Ray grinned.

"No, that's not what I meant…" Egon ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Ray winked at him.

"Sure thing, Egon."

"I really don't think it'd be wise to tell everyone that, Ray. It's already superstition on Halloween that the dead rise but for us to actually tell them that it's true…we're taken pretty seriously now, you know." Egon said.

"Relax! If you don't wanna go, you don't wanna go." Ray said.

Egon nodded and turned back to the couch. He scooped up the pile of clothes that he had set there before heading back towards the bedroom.

He waited patiently at the door for Melanie to emerge but after a moment he began to grow a little worried. He raised his fist and knocked quietly at the door.

"Melanie? I've got some clothes out here for you when you're ready…" He called. When she didn't answer, he hesitated for another few seconds before knocking on the door again. He still got not reply and just as he was about to reach for the doorknob, it jerked open and Melanie stood half hidden behind the door. She was gazing up at Egon, eyes wide.

"Hi." She said quietly. He glanced down at her quizzically. She had a large towel wrapped around her, and her long hair still dripped down her right shoulder.

"Hi..." Egon replied. "Everything okay?"

Melanie glanced back into the bathroom behind where the door concealed her left side and then looked back at Egon. She shook her head slowly.

"Um…no." She squeaked. Egon blinked.

"What's wrong?" He asked quietly.

She bit her lip and then opened the door to reveal her left shoulder. A large jagged scar ran from her collarbone to the tip of her shoulder blade. Egon looked at it for a moment before looking back at her worried expression.

"You have a scar…?" He finally said. Her shoulders slumped. She turned around to look at herself in the bathroom mirror.

"I didn't before…I think it's from the crash. But...I don't understand how it would've healed…?" She said. She gently ran her fingers across the scar. Egon quickly handed her the clothes he had found.

"Here…you put these on and I'll take a closer look at it when you're done." He said. She slowly took the pile of clothes and nodded distractedly. Egon carefully closed the door behind her and retreated to the lab to tell Ray what Melanie had found.


	28. Chapter 28 Melanie Endures More Tests

**Hey ya'll! I've been having to force myself to hold myself back from posting this week, because I really am behind on stuff to post! I've got about two or three more chapters to post with what I have written right at this second. Work had me exhausted this week and I just haven't managed to write anything other than a few paragraphs each night. I apologize! But I really think you will like this chapter. I'm not SUPER great at writing fluffy lovey dovey parts, but I think I did alright with this chapter. At least until...well, you'll see. :)**

 **Does anybody even read these little intro parts I put into the beginning of each chapter? Because I have a really cool story from work this week if you want to hear about it! I've been struggling to figure out the computer part of the embroidery machine at work for the past little while and I had to rely on another girl to help me every time I need to change something. Well, while I was cleaning up my machine Tuesday, a paper fell on the floor and when I picked it up, it was literally a cheat sheet for programming the computer of the machine! I was so excited! So it's been a productive week for me at work, if not with the story! I'll let you read now, sorry! :)**

I dried off quickly after my shower and slipped into the pajamas Egon had brought me. I studied myself in the mirror as I combed my fingers through my wet hair. It was strange to finally see myself after what had felt like forever. I still looked like…me, which for some reason unsettled me. It was like no time had passed since I'd last looked at myself in a mirror, yet, it had taken a toll on me somehow. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but that my eyes had a different look in them than I'd remembered.

I raised both of my hands to my face and then sighed. I stepped back and looked at my appearance once more and stifled a giggle as I noticed the large Ghostbusters logo on the front of the T-shirt I was wearing. Smiling, I opened the bathroom door and eagerly hurried to the lab.

Egon and Ray had their backs to me as they talked in hushed voices at what I could only assume was about me.

"…I don't know. I mean, I guess that could be one explanation but we won't know for sure until…"

Egon swiveled around as he heard my footstep cause one of the floorboards to creak. Ray turned over his shoulder as well and cleared his throat before flashing me a weary smile.

"A Ghostbusters T-shirt, huh?" I said softly, trying to play off the awkwardness that had settled over the room upon my arrival. Egon smiled, relieved that I had calmed down a bit and then gestured for me to join them at the lab table they stood next to.

All manners of trinkets lay scattered on the tabletop. Among the usual meters and ghost detecting equipment were several vials and syringes. I studied the carefully arranged tabletop and then looked back up at Egon and Ray who both seemed to be waiting for my reaction. I rolled my eyes and smiled teasingly.

"I'm not going to make anything blow up this time, I promise." I said. Ray's eyes lit up.

"Can you still do ghost things like that?" he asked excitedly. I shook my head with a half-smile and his shoulders fell slightly.

"Are you ready to get started?" Egon gestured for me to sit on the lab table in the middle of all of the equipment there. I hesitantly nodded and did as I was told, wary of whatever tests they planned to run on me now that I was alive.

"We'll want to see the scar first, I think." Ray said, nudging Egon away from the syringe lying on the table next to me. Relieved, I pulled the large T-shirt's collar down to reveal my left shoulder where I had found the scar only moments before.

Egon stepped closer to me and gently ran a finger over the raised flesh of my shoulder. I felt a shiver go down my spine at his touch.

"Interesting…" He murmured. "Ray, look at this."

Ray took a closer look at the jagged scar on my shoulder and after a moment pulled away to confirm Egon's unspoken thoughts.

"There's years of scar tissue healed over her injury. It's crazy, but that's what it looks like to me." Ray said thoughtfully. Egon nodded.

"But how would it heal? Clearly I've been dead for those two years and after someone's body is no longer alive, things like healing don't happen…" I pressed. Egon and Ray both exchanged glances with each other.

"My thoughts are that since you, as a ghost, were able to manifest as how you originally looked in life, when the change took over, your body appeared as your ghost had." Egon slowly explained. When he noticed my comprehending stare, his eyebrows pinched together. "Does that make sense?"

"But…since I appeared like I was alive…and I didn't have this huge scar before…why is it there?" I asked, still confused.

"Maybe your body wanted to keep with the reality of things." Ray suggested lightly.

I nodded slowly in thought and then shifted my shoulder slightly.

"Hey, hang on." Ray said as he stepped behind me and ran his finger over the back of my shoulder. "There's another one here."

"What?" Egon said as he gently turned me so that he could see what Ray was looking at. After a few seconds I reached over the back of my shoulder and felt another scar, smaller than the one in front, but just as prominent on my back. Realization hit me.

"What was it that hit me?" I asked quietly. Egon moved over to the computer and seemed to be typing something in.

"Whatever it was seems to have completely impaled your shoulder. Surprised it didn't take your whole arm off." Ray said. I flashed him a horrified look and he quickly looked apologetic.

"It says here that it was a huge shard of metal from the other driver's car. It looks like it might have come from the hood somewhere…" Egon said as he read it off the computer screen. I moved to lean over his shoulder to see what he was looking at. He jerked away in surprise and hurriedly took down the page he had been reading. He wasn't quick enough because I had seen a picture of my wrecked red car and a body lying on the road covered in a blue sheet.

"Wait, was that…?" I trailed off, feeling my heart skip a beat. My head started to pound and I stared into the space in front of me distantly.

"Melanie…" Egon said almost silently, his eyes full of pity. I suddenly felt sick. I turned away and wrapped my arms around my torso, trying to stifle the feeling.

"That was…" I breathed as I found myself slowly rocking back and forth on the tabletop.

"Melanie I'm sorry…I shouldn't have..."

"How are you even able to see that kind of stuff?" I squeaked finally. Egon looked at Ray who shrugged and backed away.

"We're allowed access to files that may potentially harbor information about the deceased. All ghosts were once former living things." Egon managed to explain quietly. I bit my lip and finally stopped my rocking. I looked up at him hesitantly. My gaze shifted to Ray who was also staring at me sympathetically. I sighed heavily and forced myself to calm down a bit. A huge tear streamed down my face and I quickly wiped it away.

"I knew I was dead, but to see it…" I said looking at the blank computer screen behind Egon. Egon's mouth twitched slightly to the side as he studied me carefully.

"You okay?" Ray asked finally. I hesitated for a second.

"How did it happen? Was it before or after I reached the hospital?" I asked softly. Egon held my gaze for a moment before turning back to the computer. He pulled the page up once more and I carefully averted my gaze to the floor.

"Before." He murmured. "It was written that you died from injuries received from the crash, but also poor emergency help. The paramedic who helped you wasn't fully trained and acted on an immediate impulse he had. Instead of waiting to remove the shrapnel from your shoulder when they got you to the hospital, he took it upon himself to remove it on the spot."

I blinked as the unwanted memory of the last moments I could remember came over me.

 _"_ _Are you okay, ma'am? Hang on…I'm going to help you up now…"_

I flinched and grasped my left shoulder tightly as I felt the ghost pain of the man yanking the huge metal shard from where it had struck me.

"Was it him?" I asked Egon, referring to the young firefighter that had confronted me tonight. He scrolled around on the page for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"It doesn't say, but it could have been." He said. I blinked slowly and nodded thoughtfully.

"What else does it say?" I asked after my curiosity got the better of me.

"That the other man got his license taken away. He had been on some medication and wasn't even supposed to be driving at the time. The accident wasn't your fault." Egon explained. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief. My chest felt a thousand times lighter and I even smiled.

"I couldn't remember that." I said breathlessly. Ray chuckled lightly and Egon smiled at my change in attitude.

"Egon? Ray? Anyone here?"

Ray turned towards the stairway where Dana's voice floated up to the second floor. He rushed the doorway and then glanced back at Egon and me.

"I'll go down and tell her you're not going." Ray said, winking. I looked at Egon as Ray hurried away down the stairs.

"What was that?" I asked, knowing that I had missed something. Egon shook his head and stood up from the desk chair where he had been sitting at the computer.

"Would you mind if I took a blood sample?" He said as he reached for one of the large syringes on the table next to me. I smirked at the topic change.

"Would you let me say no?" I teased. He gazed up at me through his glasses, catching the words that I had told him before back at the warehouse when he'd first come to run tests on me and my 'supernatural abilities.'

"I mean, you could but I'd just keep pushing until you finally agreed." He smirked.

I smiled at how he was slowly starting to open up and be himself around me. After all we'd been through in the past several weeks, it was about time.

I suddenly felt the cold metal of the needle slide into the soft skin of my forearm. I took a quick sharp breath.

"What? What's wrong?" Egon asked, stopping before the needle could go any further.

"N-nothing. I just forgot…I'm terrified of needles." I breathed, laughing quietly. His eyes softened as he held my gaze for a long moment before glancing back down at my arm.

"After all you've been through, you're afraid of a little needle?" He teased lightly. I rolled my eyes.

"Have you done this before?" I asked as I watched the concentration on his face as he worked. He gave a short nod.

"A few times. I used to practice on my younger cousins. Got in trouble a few times but in my mind it got me the practice I needed." Egon met my surprised glance and smirked.

"Wow. I just used to play hide and seek or tag with my cousins…"

"All done." Egon said as he set the syringe on the table and wiped my arm clean. He placed a small bandage on the spot and started wrapping a bigger bandage around it. I smiled at how gentle he was being. I watched his face as he finished up with my arm and then picked up the syringe to examine it. "I guess that's why you're so good at it, then."

I was so caught up in studying his movements that I missed what he was talking about. I blinked as he dripped a few drops of blood onto a small slide on another lab table.

"Good at what?" I asked. He turned to glance at me, amusement flickering over his features.

"Hide and Seek." He explained softly. I tilted my head to the side and his face fell. "What with all the…" He waved his arms in what he attempted to be a mysterious way. I burst into laughter.

"With all the what? I don't understand what that dance means." I said, when I could finally contain my laughing. He set his jaw and turned back to his work.

"Your little disappearing acts and all." He muttered. I blinked and stared at the floor, feeling my smile fall slightly. Egon knelt over the table where he had a large microscope.

"I don't really look like that…do I?" I asked after a long moment. Egon turned over his shoulder to flash me a teasing look.

I smiled at him and felt my face grow warm. He knelt back over his microscope and then grabbed a book from a drawer next to him. He began to leaf through the pages thoughtfully.

I felt myself space out as I waited for him to say something about what he was looking at. I glanced down at my arm where he had expertly wrapped the bandage. I touched it lightly and flexed my arm thoughtfully.

"Hmm…" He finally mumbled after what felt like several long minutes. I looked at him quizzically. When he didn't elaborate, my curiosity took over.

"What is it?"

He tinkered with the microscope and then stared at the book that lay open on the table next to it.

"Your blood cells seem to be completely normal. I don't understand though…" He said, clearly frustrated.

"What did you expect? I mean…" I glanced at the bandage wrapped around my arm. Egon didn't answer right away, he just kept flipping through the book and jotting down notes. He finally shut the book and turned to me.

"Could you pass me that book behind you?" He pointed past my shoulder to a bookshelf where dozens of huge books were kept in what looked like an orderly fashion. I blinked and then slowly got up from the table and moved to the shelf.

"Uh…which one?" I asked glancing at the immense collection of books.

"Second shelf, fourth from the left." He called. I shrugged, unsurprised that he would have that memorized. I slid it from its spot in the shelf and then turned to take it to him. He had his back to me and was dripping a drop of my blood into a container of clear liquid. I gently set the book next to his elbow and went back to my perch on the lab table.

"You didn't answer me. What did you expect me to be? Not…human?" I said slowly.

Egon cleared his throat and set the container on the desktop, trading it for the book I had left him. He opened it and seemed to know exactly what he was looking for because he set it down open on the table and once again picked up the container and dripped some other solution into it. The liquid instantly started to bubble and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"Is it supposed to do that?" I asked worriedly. Egon nodded slowly, his face still set in deep concentration. I relaxed a little, relieved. He turned back to his book and flipped to another page. After another long couple of minutes spent in silence, I quietly leaped off of the table once more and moved over to peer over his shoulder at what he was reading.

"'Resurrecting the Dead'?" I asked, confused. Egon nearly fell out of his desk chair.

"Geez, Melanie! I wouldn't think you could sneak up on me now!" He ran a hand through his already stuck up hair and leaned back for a second in silence.

"I'm sorry…you were really busy and I just wanted to see what you were finding out." I said softly. He glanced up at me wearily.

"I can't seem to figure out how to explain the reason you're alive." He muttered as he turned back to the table to flip through the book. I scoffed.

"What is there to explain? I told you several times that it happened every year. At least…to me it has. I guess I can't speak for the others…" I trailed off. I looked up to see that he still had his back to me, hard at work.

"I had noticed that there was a small change in business on Halloween nights. There's less to do actually, though we are always standing by on nights like this. It's usually just prank calls that we do get…Janine takes care of those. Crime rates are slightly higher on Halloween here in the city though, so maybe there is some truth to what you're saying." He said. I shook my head in disbelief.

"You think I'm making it up? For the two years I've been dead, I've been through two Halloweens…three this year, I guess. And I'm pretty sure I would know if I was alive or not." I said persistently.

Egon found something interesting in the book and reached for the dropper of blood once more. He dripped it onto another slide and mixed it with another dropper of solution. This one didn't seem to fizz or bubble like what had happened in the container and he seemed surprised with that.

"Egon, are you even listening to me?" I asked, feeling slightly angry.

"We're not going to the party, if that's what you're getting around to." He finally answered me. He wouldn't turn around though.

I took a step back. The thought hadn't crossed my mind, surprisingly, but when I realized that he had no intention of even entertaining the thought of taking me out in public I felt hurt. I set my jaw to try to conceal the effect of his blow.

"Maybe you need to let go of your science and admit that this can't be explained as easily as you want it to be." I murmured. Egon sighed heavily in frustration but continued to peer questioningly at the slide under the microscope.

When I got no other reaction from him, I moved away from the table and flopped lazily onto the couch behind him. I curled up into a ball, resting my chin on the armrest. I could feel the tension in the room, and I was ashamed at my outburst. I wanted to say something to apologize but the longer I stared at Egon, the more embarrassed I felt.

"Hey…Melanie."

I flicked my gaze to the doorway next across from the couch where I heard someone whisper my name. Ray stood there, motioning for me to be quiet. I blinked and slowly sat up, a questioning look on my face. Ray pointed to where Egon was working at the desk and then put a finger to his lips. He waved for me to follow him down the stairs to the bottom floor of the firehouse. I threw a quick glance over my shoulder at Egon, but knew that he was so absorbed in his research that he didn't even hear me leave.

When Ray and I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Dana came out from behind Janine's desk, lugging a large bag with her. Ray turned to me as Dana approached me and opened the bag to reveal a selection of clothing.

"We've got a little surprise for ya." Ray said. Dana lifted a fancy looking green shirt out of the bag and handed it to me.

"You can help yourself to anything you want in here. Ray and Peter just told me to pick out a few things that you might like and since I didn't know you very well, I grabbed a little bit of everything I had." Dana explained as she unloaded a black skirt and a short red dress. Each piece of clothing she pulled out, she gently laid across my outstretched arms. I smiled at her confusedly.

"Thanks…but what is this all really for? Egon says we're staying here." I said. Ray couldn't contain his excitement any longer.

"You're coming to the party with us. Egon doesn't know it yet but he'll agree to it too. He's just a stickler for his research you know." He said. I nodded and smirked at the frilly blue dress Dana handed to me.

"But he said…"

"It doesn't matter. I know what a girl wants and I'm pretty sure after what you've been through, it's not to stay cooped up in some dirty old firehouse for the night." Dana said sternly. I smiled hesitantly and looked at Ray.

"Don't worry about it. He'll get over it." He said. He gave me a knowing look and I realized that he had heard the harsh words I'd thrown at Egon up in the lab. I nodded halfheartedly and looked back at the still growing pile of clothing in my arms.

"See anything you like yet?" Dana asked as she kept pulling random outfits from the bag. I scanned the different colors of fabric in my arms, trying to choose something. Then I saw what she pulled from the bag next and my eyes lit up.

"That's perfect!" I said. She smiled and handed me the hanger.

"Let's go change then! Ray, keep Egon busy if he even notices she's gone." Dana said as she took the pile of clothes from me and placed them in his arms. She waved for me to follow her to a small backroom past the desks.

"Don't take too long…it's almost nine thirty now..." Peter called as he came in the front door of the firehouse. Ray immediately shushed him and Dana laughed as she led me to the room, an outfit of her own draped over her arm.


	29. Chapter 29 The Makeover

**Sorry guys...this one's a bit of a tease. I couldn't wait any longer to post about work yesterday.**

 **Okay, so after lunch I was starting a new order of belts and I was asking this one girl for help on it and she had taken it back to the back of the warehouse to fix it. I was left alone up front with the other three women on the machines and all of a sudden the power went out. Oh man...I surprisingly had no reaction but when it came back on a few seconds later, I was thankful that I hadn't been in the middle of a run on the machine because the other women had a little trouble starting back up. Oh well, thought you might enjoy hearing about the craziness that goes on in my mind at work every day!**

"Are you almost finished?" I asked impatiently, checking myself over in the small hand mirror Dana had thought to pack. Dana smiled as she put the finishing touches of makeup around my eyes.

"Okay, you're done." Dana said as she closed the eyeshadow with a click. I blinked a few times, seeing how defined my eyes were now. Not being one for makeup ever before, it made a huge difference to see myself like this.

"Thank you for this Dana." I said seriously. She grinned and waved her hand.

"No problem! It gives me a reason to try out this stuff. I'm not a big makeup wearer myself, so this is giving me a chance to use it."

I stood up and looked down at the lovely choice of outfit I'd picked out. I still had trouble believing that this was really happening.

"Do you think he'll like it?" I asked nervously.

"Does Egon really 'like' anything?" Peter teased from behind us. Dana turned in the chair she was sitting to flash him a slightly annoyed look.

"Peter, privacy really means nothing to you, does it?" She teased. I smiled and I ran my hand through my long hair nervously. Dana gently slapped my hands down. "If you keep messing with it, you'll ruin my hard work."

"Sorry…" I said, embarrassed. I sighed. "It's been a while since I've had the chance to dress up."

"Well, I've gotta say you clean up pretty good." Peter said, still standing in the doorway. I turned to him and felt myself blush. Dana crossed her arms and set her jaw, waiting patiently for him to continue. "Uh…you do too, of course."

"That's better." She said, unable to keep up her serious façade.

Dana wore a pretty black skirt that fell past her knees with a burgundy colored long sleeved shirt. Her hair was pulled back slightly and her short curls framed her face cutely. I had always wanted short hair but argued with myself that if I ever did get it cut, I would want it long again so I just never got it done. I smirked as I twirled a strand of my shoulder length hair around my finger.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Dana said. She turned to Peter who was watching us with bored curiosity. "Peter, could you grab the shoes I brought from the floorboard of the car?"

"You mean these?" He asked, not moving. He held a pair of black four inch heels in his hands. I blinked in surprise.

"Uh…yes." Dana said, smirking at how prepared he was. Apparently he had found them beforehand and was just waiting for the perfect moment to produce them. She took the shoes from him and turned back to me. She set them on the ground at my feet and I stared at her in disbelief.

"You want me to wear these?" I finally said. The shoes still looked brand new. She nodded.

I carefully stepped into the shoes, feeling myself grow a few inches taller. I was almost Dana's height now, and I wobbled slightly. My eyes widened and I looked down at the shoes wearily.

"I'm afraid I'm going to mess them up…" I said. Dana laughed.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine. You look great!" She said encouragingly. I smiled and she started to gather up the makeup that cluttered the table.

"Ray, did Melanie come down here?"

I glanced at the doorway where I could hear Egon's worried voice. Peter quickly turned around and pulled the door shut behind him, shutting me and Dana inside. She put a finger to her lips and smirked. I couldn't hide my amusement either and found myself listening intently at the excuses Ray, Peter and Winston were making up outside.


	30. Chapter 30 Melanie's New Look

**I'm going to go ahead and post this chapter before I get into the craziness of the coming workweek tomorrow. I'm honestly not looking forward to it yet because it's supposed to be a busy one. But I'll make it through! (Hopefully!) Hope you guys like this short little filler chapter! :D**

Egon was frustrated. He had realized that Melanie had been upset and had meant to turn around and console her, but he kept finding more leads to follow in the book he was flipping through. It was several minutes before he finally did turn around, still staring at the book in his hands.

"Melanie, could I ask you for a few clippings of your hair? I want to try something else…" He said slowly.

When she didn't answer, he glanced briefly up towards the couch. It was empty.

"…Melanie?" He called out softly. He gently set the book face-down on the desktop and stood up. There still was no reply. His heart started to beat a little quicker as his paranoia set in.

Seeing that she was no longer in the room, he searched confusedly on the second floor and then, not finding her up there, rushed down the stairs to where he knew Peter, Dana, Winston and Ray hadn't left yet.

"Ray, did Melanie come down here?"

Ray whirled around from where he had been facing and talking to Winston. Ray slowly shook his head and glanced to where Peter had emerged from the back storage room.

"I haven't seen her." Ray said.

"Yeah, we've all been changing into our spare uniforms. The others got pretty messed up with our little brawl tonight." Winston said.

"She can't be too far. Ghost girl isn't a ghost at the moment so she can't get by us." Peter said casually. Egon looked around worriedly.

"I'm afraid something happened. Maybe her temporary lifetime lasted shorter that we thought it would…" Egon trailed off. Ray glanced at Winston and moved to console his friend.

"She'd still be here though, right? I mean if she had turned back into a ghost?" Ray said slowly. Egon shook his head.

"I…I don't know."

"Sounded like you two were fighting up there last I heard." Peter said. Egon felt even worse at that realization.

"She's gotta be here somewhere." Winston said, reassuringly. He moved like he was going to check the basement. Egon flashed him a thankful glance as the man disappeared towards the back of the firehouse.

"Maybe she went out for a walk?" Ray suggested lightly. Peter slapped him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"You can't keep it concise…I just said that we didn't see her come down here and we Ghostbusters are so aware of our surroundings that'd we'd notice. We'd know if she came down here and left." Peter said through gritted teeth. Egon frowned, confusedly.

"You guys are terrible liars."

Egon turned at the sound of her laughter.

She came out of the storage room where Peter had been a few minutes before. She wore a flowy, knee-length black dress with long silky sleeves that covered the bandage wrapped around her left arm. She had high heels to match her dress, which she walked in with slightly noticeable difficulty. Her long brown hair fell in soft curls around her face. She smiled shyly as she noticed Egon's dumbfounded gaze on her.

"Hi." She finally said softly as she walked slowly towards him. All of the others, including Dana who poked her head out from the doorway, were waiting expectantly for Egon's reaction.

"W-what is this about?" He finally said. Melanie's smile faltered.

"We're not leaving you two alone while we go party. That wouldn't be very fair." Peter said, wrapping his arm around Dana's shoulders as she came up to join him.

"But…I was…" Egon started. Melanie took his hand cautiously.

"Let the girl have some fun. I mean, as much fun as you can have at a party thrown by Louis Tulley." Winston said as he reentered the room.

Egon looked at Melanie who was waiting for his answer. The makeup she wore enhanced her eyes, making the blue in them shine brighter than before. Egon couldn't refuse her.

"A-alright." He finally relented. Her eyes sparkled with newfound excitement. She walked over to him, and with her high heels she was once more his height. She hugged him tightly and planted a quick kiss on his cheek as a chorus of relieved sighs came from the other Ghostbusters and Dana.


	31. Chapter 31 Driving to the Party

**Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't post anything earlier this week, but like I said before it was a crazy one. I started off on the wrong foot and all day Monday and Tuesday I was having to redo some belts I had messed up on when we were working half a day last Saturday. I was really down in the dumps early this week and I couldn't even think about this story. So...sorry about that! It got a little better by Wednesday and I'm actually back to feeling confident about my work again. So, knock on wood, hopefully next week will be just as good as I finished this one off with and I won't have to be so anxious about messing up.**

 **Anyways, here's another longer chapter for you guys. I know the last few have been pretty short and uneventful but I think this one makes up for it a bit. Let me know what you think! :)**

"So Melanie, can I ask you a question?"

I looked over the front seat to where Ray was once again driving the Ecto-1. I smiled at him expectantly, the excitement of finally getting out in public buzzing through me.

"You said that the dead rise on Halloween. If that's true…how is it that we haven't seen any?" Ray continued slowly, as if he were afraid of offending me. I looked around thoughtfully.

"You probably have seen them, you just haven't realized it. Ghosts can come back as their former selves on Halloween. See that man on the corner of the street over there?" I pointed and Ray slowed the car at an intersection.

The man standing on the street corner stood tall as if he knew he was important and he wanted everyone else to realize it too. He was in a shabby business suit that had several tears in it. His hair was tousled to the side and even from the short distance that we were watching him from, I could tell he needed a clean shave. He was glowing an odd shade of orange and from that I gathered that he had died in a fire.

"No way…is he…?" Winston said, interested. I nodded.

"Yes, he's a ghost."

"How can you tell?" Ray asked, stepping on the gas as the man on the corner turned his head our way. I shrugged as I watched the man raise an eyebrow at the oddly decorative car speeding past him.

"He's glowing orange. Can't you see?" I said quietly.

"I don't see anything like that. He just looks like an ordinary guy." Winston said. I casually scanned the streets as Ray continued on the way to Louis' apartment building.

"Can you see any more of them?" Dana asked from behind me. I turned over my shoulder and smiled at her skeptical glance. Peter had his arm wrapped around her and seemed to be watching the sidewalks too. I looked out my window once more and after a few moments, I once more pointed out the window.

"There! That woman on the bench! She has a little girl with her. They're both glowing." I studied the two of them as Ray stopped at a stoplight next to them. Egon peered over my shoulder at the mother and daughter who seemed to be holding each other tightly.

The little girl had long blonde hair twirled into two bouncy pigtails over her ears. I could see in the glow from the streetlights that she wore a faded red and white striped dress and also that she had no shoes on her stockinged feet. Her mother was tall and lean as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. Her pale cheeks were almost grey in the shadows and her eyes were hollowed out and vacant. The woman was sobbing, but her little girl seemed to brighten as she noticed the car in front of her. She smiled and pointed at us.

"Are they orange too?" Egon asked. I shook my head, still looking out the car window.

"They're both green. I think that means they were sick." I said slowly. I could feel Egon's gaze on me.

"How do you know that?"

"It's just a feeling. I can't really explain it." I said.

The woman on the bench slowly raised her eyes to the car where the little girl was pointing. Her gaze locked onto me and she smiled wearily, which I took to mean that she too recognized one of her own. Egon wrapped a protective arm around me as the traffic light turned green and Ray turned the corner.

"Well that was weird." Peter said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the car.

"So ghosts have different 'glows'?" Winston asked. Ray scoffed.

"I believe that's called an 'aura'. And until now, I didn't pay much attention to the ones we saw on the ghosts we've caught. But what Melanie's saying does make sense." Ray said.

"If that's true, what did it mean that your aura was blue?" Egon asked me. I met his eyes shyly.

"I don't know…I mean, it was really cold when I died so that might be a factor in it. I can't explain for myself." I said. He raised an eyebrow and once more looked out the window.

"What about them? Are they dead?" Peter asked lazily as he pointed out the window at a teenage girl dressed all in black. She was deathly pale with black rings around her eyes and her long black hair fell in waves down her shoulders, covering half of her face. She was holding hands with a boy who was dressed like he'd just gotten out of a rock concert – multiple ear piercings and a band T-shirt with skinny jeans. I studied the couple for just a second before shaking my head and leaning back in my seat against Egon.

"Nope. They're just wannabes." I sighed dramatically. Egon smirked and gently nudged me.

"This is so cool! So you can see auras! Do we have any?" Ray asked from the front of the car. I glanced at him questioningly. The whole car was silent as they all waited for my answer.

"No…you guys look just as normal as you always do." I said softly.

"Could you see these…auras…before? Like when you were a ghost?" Winston asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't see any other ghosts, I guess. They're the only ones I can see the glow from." I said as we passed another ghost, too fast for me to see clearly except for a brief flash of green.

"What about when you were fighting Death back at the warehouse?" Egon asked. I glanced at him wearily.

"It got to a point where I could see past the dark cloud and see his human form. I don't know if that's what he really looks like or not, but that was what form he was using at the time. That's what you saw, wasn't it?" I said. Egon nodded.

"All I saw was the black swirling mass of darkness." Peter said. Winston nodded in agreement.

"Don't forget the red eyes." Ray added.

"This is weird." I said, shaking my head. Egon pulled me closer.

"Don't worry about it. We'll add this new symptom of seeing auras to our list of tests for when we get back later tonight. We can try to look for…"

"Egon…"

Egon went silent as Dana gently scolded him from her seat next to Peter. Egon gave me a weary apologetic look and I smiled gently in return, reaching for his hand.

"Okay, we're here." Ray said as he swerved to the curb. I steadied myself against Egon at Ray's outrageous driving. I smirked as Egon clearly had the same reaction I did on his face.

Peter pushed open the car's side door and he and Dana both got out of the car. I looked at Egon, suddenly feeling a little shy. Here I was, about to go to a party with four of the most famous guys in the city. What was I about to walk into?

"Come on, you've been looking forward to this for the past two days." Egon said teasingly. I smirked and then looked at the floor.

"I know…but what if I'm not good enough?" I said. He blinked and looked at the curb where the other three Ghostbusters and Dana stood waiting and talking among themselves. He gently leaned closer to me and kissed me on the cheek.

"Don't worry about what others will think. You're with us." He pulled away and I felt my face grow warm. I smiled and took his hand as he moved to help me out of the car. Shaky on Dana's super high heels, I joined the small group on the sidewalk.

"Ready?" Ray asked, glancing at his watch. Egon nodded as he took my arm.

"We'll just say a little "Hi" to the folks and then we're free to go for the night. This thing won't take twenty minutes." Peter said.

"Yeah…right." Winston said, grinning knowingly. Peter shrugged as the doorman to the apartment building nodded to us. He held the door open as we filed in, Ray and Winston in the front, then Peter and Dana with Egon and myself bringing up the rear. The doorman gave me a questioning glance as we passed and I flashed him a quick smile then hurried along after Peter and Dana, nearly dragging Egon with me.

"Easy, Melanie…" Egon chuckled. I bit my lip as several people in the lobby were staring at the sight of the four Ghostbusters and two girls entering the building. A few applauded and Ray, Winston and Peter all threw their hands up to cause more cheers. Dana glanced over her shoulder to me and rolled her eyes with a smile. I grinned back at her and looked at Egon who was smiling halfheartedly at a group of people dressed in homemade Ghostbusters uniforms.

Ray led the group into the elevator, through the crowd desperately trying to catch a closer glimpse of the Ghostbusters and their dates. When we had all crowded into the small elevator, Ray gave one last wave to the fans as the doors slid shut separating us from them.

"These people…" Peter said, feigning exhaustion as he slumped against the elevator wall. Dana laughed.

"You know you love the attention." She said. Peter smirked and then shrugged.

"Yeah…just a little bit." He relented. I smiled.

"I know I do." Winston said.

"I could do without the days when the crowd gets out of hand and tries to rip your clothes off though." Ray added nonchalantly. Egon nodded in agreement.

"H-has that happened?" I asked in disbelief, hoping they were kidding. All four of them looked at me, confirming Ray's statement. I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you…" Egon murmured. I looked up to see if he was being serious, and then relaxed as I saw his teasing smile. I returned it and slid closer to him and felt him put his arm around me.

"You get used to it, Melanie…eventually." Dana said reassuringly. I smiled at her as she nodded towards Peter. "He's the worst one of the bunch."

"I don't know about all that…" Peter protested. I laughed.

"Now, Melanie…whenever you feel like you're about to turn all 'ghosty' on us, let us know. We don't really need you to do a disappearing act in a crowd full of people." Ray said seriously. I bit my lip and nodded slowly.

For the previous two Halloween nights I had spent alive, I hadn't left the warehouse. I did notice, however, that as soon as the sun came up everything had turned cold again and I was back to my ghostly self. I didn't see the sense in telling the Ghostbusters that everything would be fine until tomorrow morning. I didn't want to think about this night ending.


	32. Chapter 32 The Party

**Hey everyone! Like all of my introductions recently, let me start off with apologizing for not updating as regularly as I want to. What I'm posting now is literally caught up with where I've stopped so far. I just can't find the time to write anymore! But I'm still thinking of this story 24/7...(I have to so that I don't forget it!) I hope you all enjoy this and I promise I will jump back into writing this afternoon or tonight so that I can post the next chapter next week. Stay with me, guys! :D**

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a hallway lined with numerous apartment room doors. I followed Ray, Winston, Peter, Dana and Egon to the end of the hall where a sign hung on the door. It was a crude painted rendition of the Ghostbusters logo with glitter glue bordering the edges of the paper. Three red balloons were tied to the doorknob, floating lazily near the ceiling of the hall.

"Looks like the handiwork of our dear, sweet Janine!" Peter said theatrically. He smirked and crept over to the balloons. He pulled one down and turned back to face us.

"Come on, Peter…" Dana said, not amused. He held the red balloon between his hands and then squeezed it until it exploded with a loud pop.

"Venkman!" Ray said, jumping at the sound even though we had all expected Peter to do it. Peter laughed and then reached for another balloon.

The door jerked open and a short, nerdy looking guy with blonde messy hair and glasses stood looking at the Ghostbusters excitedly. Peter stepped away from the balloons and smiled innocently at the man.

"Hey Louis! How's it going?" He said nonchalantly. I smirked.

"Louis, I hope you don't mind, but we brought an extra date. This is…" Ray started.

"I thought I heard you guys out here!" Louis Tulley exclaimed. He turned back into the apartment. "Hey everybody - the Ghostbusters are here!"

"Here we go." Winston said as he followed Louis into the apartment to cheers and applause. Ray and Peter went after him with Dana trailing after Peter, scolding him for messing up Janine's hard work with the decorations. I entered the room with Egon, gripping his hand tightly as we were overwhelmed with the amount of people squeezed into Louis' tiny apartment.

"Ghostbusters! Can I have your autographs?" One woman said as she ran up to us.

"My kids love you! We have all of your merchandise!" Another man said.

"Dr. Stantz! How'd you get that nice bruise?! Fighting ghosts?" One young guy asked excitedly. Ray flashed a sideways glance my way. I shrunk back, still sorry that my anger had won out to cause me to hurt him like that.

"Yeah, you could say that." He said, smiling. The guy seemed to be awed by that.

"I want to thank you guys personally for taking care of that ghost in our house last month. I know you probably don't remember, but I still wanna show my gratitude. Would one of you like to go out to dinner next Wednesday?" A young blonde woman asked hopefully. I raised my eyebrows.

"Um…I don't think…" Ray said uncomfortably but he was interrupted when Louis jumped in front of him, blocking the crowd from overtaking us.

"Hey! Back off everyone! They just got here…so…cut 'em some slack, will ya?" He said. Louis' guests seemed to pause for a moment before finally returning back to whatever they'd been doing before we'd walked in.

"What are you doing, Louis? Your party's dead! Let's liven things up a little bit!" Peter rushed over to where Louis had a small radio in the corner. It was currently playing a quiet ballad about some poor bored bachelor wanting attention and I grinned as Peter switched it over to a rock station and cranked the volume. _Ballroom Blitz_ by The Sweet was just starting and I couldn't help but smile as I saw Peter's excited expression as he clapped his hands together and started to shout at everyone to get moving.

 _"_ _Alright Fellas…Let's go!"_ Peter called out shrilly. I laughed. A few of the guests glanced around at the sudden change in the atmosphere and then people started following Peter's lead and erupted into obnoxious dancing. I smiled as people shoved by us to join the growing circle around Peter who was stirring up the crowd with his own wacky dance moves.

"I've gotta be a part of this!" Winston said excitedly as he pushed through the crowd of people to reach Peter in the middle of it. Ray laughed and turned to us.

"Wanna go join in?" He asked, looking at me. I grinned but shook my head.

"Not yet. I'll just watch for now." I said shyly, glancing at the room full of people. Ray shrugged and made his way through the crowd greeting people. Egon still stood by my side, observing the wildness that Peter had created in merely seconds.

"Are you okay? Is this too much for you? If it is, we can leave…" Egon said after a few moments. I looked up at him and smiled.

"No, it's great. I've just gotta get warmed up first." I said. Egon glanced past me.

"Well we're not going to do that just standing around…let's go." He said. My eyes widened as he took my hand and led me towards the large crowd of people.

"Oh no…I didn't mean…Egon…" I whined, playfully pulling against him as he led me towards where the guests had crowded around Peter and Winston. It looked like they were having a dance off, judged by Ray and Dana. So far, it appeared that Peter was losing but not by much.

Egon and I dodged past the cheering and dancing people to join Ray and Dana who were in tears laughing at the dances Peter and Winston were making up.

"Winston's winning…" Dana called out hesitantly but Peter suddenly burst forth and grabbed my hand.

"Wait-" I choked out as my hand slipped out of Egon's and I was pulled onto the makeshift dance floor of Louis' living room. Peter grinned excitedly and spun me around, ending the move in a dramatic dip. He held me there for a moment and I stared up at him, eyes wide.

"Hey Ghost girl!" He said. Before I could respond he had yanked me upright once more and twirled me around the circle of people. I saw from the corner of my eye that Winston had also grabbed a dance partner, a giggling young woman in a purple dress who seemed super thrilled with the experience.

"I'm…pretty sure Dana would like this better…" I said as I struggled to keep my footing in the heels I wore. Peter smirked as he glanced over my shoulder.

"Think fast!" He called out as he suddenly shoved me into another spin, releasing me with uncontrollable momentum. I let out a panicked squeak as I wobbled on the high heels I wore, unable to stop. I saw a flash of wild curly brown hair fly past me and I heard laughter. Suddenly the spinning stopped and I was staring up at Egon who had joined his fellow Ghostbusters on the dance floor. I glanced behind me to see that Dana had taken my place dancing with Peter.

"Oh…" I said dumbly. Egon smiled and looked down at my feet.

"You're going to break an ankle in those shoes, you know." He said teasingly. I quickly kicked them off and shrank down several inches.

"Is this better?" I said as I leapt into a dance of my own. Egon followed my lead, amusement washing over his face.

He grabbed my hand and spun me into him and then switched hands to spin me back out again. I could hear Ray calling out that the song was nearly over and that it was going to be a really close tie-breaker. Egon grinned at me as I took a few steps back from him for the finale of our dance. I suddenly ran and leapt into his arms and he spun me around to cheers from the people surrounding us. I couldn't contain the excited exhilaration on my face and I stared down lovingly at him as the fast paced song ended.

He held me like that for what felt like forever but really was only a few seconds. Our faces were so close, yet I couldn't seem to make myself move in for the expected kiss from this love story moment. I must have looked like an idiot smiling awkwardly at him. He smirked at me as if reassuring me that I wasn't stupid at all. Finally he gently set me down on the floor and I was once again dwarfed next to him.

"Yes, I think I like you better when you're not trying to float up to my height." Egon said in response to my earlier question. I grinned and flipped my frizzy curls back over my shoulder.

"Who won?" I asked, trying not to make the moment any more awkward. I glanced around to see that Peter and Dana were being swarmed by several other couples and Winston was laughing with his random dance partner. Ray strolled over to us with a twinkle in his eye.

"That was some pretty intense moves you had going there, Melanie." He said. I felt myself blush.

"Wasn't me. Peter started it." I said. Ray and Egon both chuckled. A slower song had begun to play on the radio station and everyone had moved into partners for a slow dance. I glanced up as Ray walked away towards where Louis and Janine were refilling the party food. Egon gently touched my arm and I looked up at him softly. His eyes scanned my face for a moment and then he smiled.

"I should have thanked you before…" He said as he pulled me closer.

"For what?" I asked, frowning.

"…For not letting me die in that warehouse tonight." He said softly. I blinked as I was hit with a sudden choked up feeling.

"Egon…" I whispered, playfully annoyed. He took my hand in his and forced me to look up at him as we swayed with the soft music.

"I'm serious. When that building was burning, you…you wouldn't let me die. Which I appreciate…but…"He trailed off, a searching look in his eyes.

"You want to know why. Why I didn't just leave you to die so that I could keep you all to myself." I said. He raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Well, yes. Any other ghost would have done just that."

"There you go again…thinking of me just as 'some other ghost.' I thought we were past this?" I said slowly.

"Oh we are. We're way past that…" He leaned in close and brought his lips to mine.

Shocked, I froze in place and messed up our slow rhythmic swaying. Egon stumbled slightly and I latched onto him reflexively, wrapping both arms around his shoulders. I was suddenly standing on his feet, on my tiptoes trying to reach him better. I felt him smile beneath the kiss. After a moment I pulled away and looked up into his brown eyes.

"Oh…" I breathed. I felt my face grow hot and my heart beat wildly. Egon's eyes twinkled with laughter and he slowly wrapped his arms around my waist. My arms tightened around his shoulders and I leaned my head onto his chest. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of his clean Ghostbusters uniform.

"Melanie?" He said softly after a few seconds.

"Hmm?"

"Just checking to make sure you're alright." He said with a hint of amusement in his voice. I smiled and nodded against his chest.

"I just…I don't want this night to end." I murmured. I felt the change in Egon's posture as his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Because then you'll go back to being…"

"Dead. Yes." I said. I pulled away and looked up at him levelly. I shrugged trying not to show that my giddy excitement had faltered. "It's okay, Egon. You can say it."

Egon studied my face for a moment and then pulled me closer. I once more was leaning against his chest, with his hand twining absently through my long hair.

"You can stay at the firehouse. We'll figure something out…" He said softly. I closed my eyes tightly and felt a tear slide down my face.

"It's not that…" I whispered. He held me tighter and I bit my lip to keep from crying even more. "It's not that simple…"

"Hey Egon, slow song's over. The crowd wants us to go up front for an encore dance- off." Peter said. Egon slowly released me and I smiled encouragingly at him as he studied my face.

"Go on, then." I said teasingly. Dana pulled away from Peter and came over towards me. Egon finally convinced himself that I would be alright and jogged over to where Ray and Winston were standing, concealed by the crowd. Peter followed excitedly.

"You okay?" Dana asked as the music and cheering of the crowd erupted once more. I rubbed the fallen tear track off of my face and shrugged. She smiled and thumbed away what must have been smeared mascara from underneath my eye.

"Ugh…did he notice?" I asked worriedly. She shook her head.

"No…I think he's still trying to figure out this relationship thing. He's never really been this passionate about one – that I've seen, anyway." She said. She smiled at me. "It's good for him."

My gaze fell to the floor thoughtfully. I felt my heart sink and the tears tried to well up again. I took a quick breath and shoved it all away, refusing to let what the future held, ruin my night. Dana grabbed my arm and pulled me over towards the refreshments. She poured me a glass of punch and handed it to me.

"Peter said he put in a little something extra, I just thought I'd warn you." Dana winked as she sipped at her spiked punch. I rolled my eyes and smirked.

"So, how did you meet Peter?" I asked after a moment of watching the crowd dancing through Louis' apartment. Dana laughed lightly as she was struck by my question.

"It was when the guys were just starting out in their business. I thought they were joking at first but when I found a doorway in my refrigerator and some weird dog living in it, they were the first ones I came to. Peter of course took an instant liking to me. Long story short, they saved me after I was possessed and turned into a dog." She said. I blinked as I tried to process all she had just said.

"A dog, huh?" I said, half smiling. She nodded and took another sip of her drink.

"Zuul." She muttered.

"Wow." I said, amazed. No wonder she hadn't been too surprised with my circumstances. "So, I guess they don't really follow the 'don't get involved with the clients' rule, do they?"

"No, I guess they don't." Dana laughed


	33. Chapter 33 The Party Continues

**I apologize in advance, guys! I feel bad that I'm not able to post as often as I want but that should change by next week. I've got all new fresh ideas for the ending of the story. It's all a jumbled mess in my head right now but once I get it all written down somewhere, it should straighten itself out. I hope you're all still enjoying the way it's headed so far. Please help me out by telling me your thoughts about it! :)**

"Hi Dana!" I heard a familiar voice and looked up as I saw the Ghostbusters' secretary approaching us. She met my eyes for a brief moment before her smile wavered slightly. "I don't think we've met…"

"Oh, I'm Melanie. Melanie Collins." I said shyly. She smiled.

"Janine Melnitz. Didn't I see you walk in with Dr. Spengler?" She asked. I nodded. "Funny. I've never heard about you before, and I'm with the guys almost 24/7…"

"She was with the boys at the bust they were working at tonight. She had no plans so Egon invited her to the party." Dana interrupted. I glanced at her quizzically and she just shrugged. I blinked and then smiled back at Janine.

"Right…with the way you two were dancing together earlier anyone would assume you'd known each for more than just a bust…" Janine said, smiling knowingly. I looked at Dana confusedly as the other woman stepped past us to get a glass of punch.

"She had a crush on Egon a little while back…that's all." Dana quickly and quietly explained to me as Janine busied herself checking the snacks.

"Oh…um…" I said awkwardly, feeling my face grow hot.

"Hey Melanie…you forgot your shoes." Ray said breathlessly as he wandered over after the crowd had once more died down for another slow song. He smiled as he handed me Dana's high heels.

"Thanks." I said, returning his weary smile. He glanced at Dana who had started on her second cup of 'punch'.

"I don't think Egon would approve if you got his date drunk, Dana." Ray said teasingly.

Janine spit out her drink. I turned back to her as she took a black napkin and wiped her face.

"Who spiked the punch?!" She nearly screamed. Ray raised an eyebrow.

"Venkman did it. Who else?" He said simply. Janine rolled her eyes, but took another sip of her punch regardless.

"Melanie's been a good girl, Ray. She hasn't even finished her first cup." Dana said teasingly. I smiled and gestured to my nearly untouched cup in my hand.

"I'm not much of a drinker." I said.

"Were you before?" He asked expectantly. I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes.

"I was slap drunk every single night." I said. Ray's eyes widened in surprise. I laughed. "No, I never drank. Only occasionally." I added.

"Oh. I didn't know if there would be a change after dying or not." He said. He quickly glanced at Janine who was watching the whole ordeal with confusion written on her face. I smiled.

"Nope. As far as I know, I'm still the same me that I was before."

"Ray, quit grilling the poor girl. You're almost as bad as Egon." Dana said. Peter suddenly strolled over to the table.

"Hey, what's this? We take you dancing and you both stand over here at the drinks? What fun you two are." He said. He dipped a plastic Halloween cup into the punch bowl and downed it in just a few seconds.

"And you're worried about _me_?" I said to Ray jokingly. He rolled his eyes as he watched Peter refill his cup again.

"Come on, Melanie. These guys are starting to be a bad influence on you." Ray said, taking the cup of punch from me and handing it to Dana who smirked knowingly. I dropped my shoes on the floor against the wall as he took my hand and led me away from the snack table and into the crowd of people slow dancing.

"Better hope Egon doesn't get jealous!" Peter called out obnoxiously after us. I laughed and Ray waved for him to shut up. Janine seemed to be pouting a little bit and I watched in relief as Louis trudged over to her and she was forced to turn her attention to him.

"I'm only borrowing you for a minute. I wanted to ask you something." Ray explained. I nodded hesitantly, noticing the sudden urgency in his tone.

"Anything." I said. Ray checked over my shoulder before returning his gaze to me.

"Okay act like we're dancing or something. People are looking." He said quickly. I rolled my eyes.

"You're a Ghostbuster, of course they're looking." I said, but I relented to put my hands on his shoulders.

"Alright. Promise you're not going to go all spook mode and make the room explode or anything?" He asked worriedly. I rolled my eyes.

"I told you, I can't do that now. I mean, I haven't tried but I promise I'll do the best I can to hold back." I grinned innocently. He seemed only slightly relieved.

"Okay. So…I noticed you were acting a little strangely after the fire. And when I went to put the trap in the containment unit earlier…it was empty." Ray said.

I stiffened and felt the blood drain from my face. My arms fell to my sides and then I wrapped them around my torso. I opened my mouth to explain but I suddenly couldn't find the words. Ray took his hands from my waist and put them on my shoulders.

"You know something, don't you?" He prodded. I looked at the ground and shook my head slowly.

"I can't…"

"Melanie! There you are."

Ray and I both turned at the same time to see Egon parting through the crowd. I sighed, relieved to be out of answering to Ray's observations. I glanced at him and lowered my head slightly at the sight of him studying me warily as I went to Egon.

"Afraid you lost me?" I asked lightheartedly as Egon wrapped his arms around me in a warm hug that chased away the fear that had crept up on me.

"You're freezing. Are you alright?" He asked worriedly. I nodded, ignoring Ray's eyes watching me as well.

"I'm fine. What time is it?" I asked. He looked at his watch.

"A little after eleven. Why?" He asked skeptically. I shrugged and took his hand firmly.

"I want to dance again." I said as I pulled him through the crowd and away from Ray's penetrating gaze. One of my favorite old songs, _The Chain_ by Fleetwood Mac had just started and I was ready to take my mind away from the dark places it had been drifting to. Egon happily obliged, and twirled me around once as we found a spot in the corner of the living room. Winston was still with the girl in the purple dress, dancing in the center of the room. Peter and Dana had also returned to the midst of the crowd and Dana was giggling unstoppably at whatever wisecracks Peter was coming up with.

"You look very…anxious…" Egon said as I looked around hurriedly. I blinked as I focused on his face, trying to steady my rapid heartbeat.

"I…I am." I admitted. Egon waited for me to continue and when I didn't, he looked back where we'd left Ray.

"What did he say to you?" He asked, an edge of accusation in his voice. I shook my head.

"I have to tell you something…but it's really hard to explain." I said softly. He looked back down at me.

 _And if you don't love me now…you will never love me again…I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain…_

I sighed and closed my eyes in thought. If I told him the truth, it would ruin this whole evening. I knew it was selfish but I still couldn't bring myself to say it aloud.

"I…I love you, Egon."

He stared at me for a few seconds and then smiled hesitantly.

"I love you too."

I smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. The music decided then to pick up with the guitar solo and I squeezed Egon's hand. I flashed him a daring smile and spun around wildly into the crowd, forcing him to follow.

 _Chains….keep us together…Run into the shadows…_

I spun in wide circles, seeming to float in a dreamlike state to the music. I smiled as I passed by Peter and Dana and they nudged me on seeing that Egon was awkwardly shoving through the dancing crowd to reach me. That made me smile lazily and I finally reached the edge of the crowd and the wall of Louis' living room. A huge picture window took up a good three feet of the space and I froze when I reached it.

There was a face in it staring back at me.

"Death." I breathed. A low rumble of thunder echoed from outside the window. Egon caught me in a hug from behind me and buried his face in my hair. I distractedly touched his arms around my shoulders.

In the darkened window, I could see that Death was standing by my side watching me amusedly. I clutched at Egon's arm and whirled around to face him, careful to hide the fear in my face. I hugged him tightly and we moved back into the crowd of people, as far away from the window as we could get. I laughed inwardly.

 _I just can't get away from anything tonight…first Ray confronts me about something I haven't wanted to think about and now Death comes to remind me as well…_

Egon twirled me around once more as the song ended. The skirt of my dress spun around dramatically, which I smiled at. Egon smirked at my bare feet.

"Were you a dancer?"

I glanced at him with a distracted look on my face. He chuckled and pulled me back towards him as another song started.

"You point your feet and spin on your toes. That usually means you've had some practice." He added lightly. I smiled and nodded.

"Well…I kind of taught myself. I was always a little dramatic. I took Theatre in high school and we did a lot of musicals. I got really involved in the arts programs too. I even tried Marching Band at one point. I couldn't play any instruments or anything but I joined the Colorguard! I was even captain one year." I said, only slightly boastful. He smiled.

"I thought it was either that or being a ghost that made you so agile." He said. He kissed me on the cheek. I felt myself blush as I leaned into him contentedly.

"Bit of both, maybe." I murmured.


	34. Chapter 34 Melanie's sort of Confession

**Hello! I know it's been a while, but truth be told, I've been a little busy this weekend. Yard work had to be done, and me and my siblings went to the movies one night, so my schedule was all out of wack. But I managed to get a good bit of writing done as well, so hopefully all is forgiven? I hope this chapter isn't too hard to follow, it seemed a little jumbled to me but I think I worked out all of the kinks. So enjoy and don't forget to leave a review! :)**

"Do you guys really have to go so soon? The party's just getting started!" Louis whined as me, Egon and Ray all stood in the doorway of his apartment. Ray smiled wearily.

"Well…we _did_ just have to take care of a really nasty case before coming over here…and you _did_ say you only needed us until midnight…" Ray said as nicely as he could.

"Yeah…" Louis relented. Janine walked up to join him, flashing me a wary glance before lazily touching his arm. I fidgeted in my heels which I had slipped back into.

"Besides…" Ray continued. "Peter and Winston said they would stay a while longer. Egon and I have to get back to the firehouse to make sure things are still running okay. This storm is really starting to build up. Can't have the containment unit shutting down if the power goes off."

As if to prove his point, a flash of lightning lit up the windows in Louis' apartment causing a few squeals and bouts of laughter from the still crowded living room. Thunder soon followed and I smiled excitedly as the lights flickered for another reason other than to show a ghostly presence. Egon gave me a knowing smile.

"Okay…well you guys take care then!" Louis said.

"You too, Louis. We'll see ya later!" Ray called over his shoulder as he led the way out of the apartment. Egon nodded politely to Louis and Janine and as he too turned out of the doorway, Janine gently reached for my hand. I slowly turned back around to face her worriedly.

"Take care of him, Melanie." She said quietly. I opened my mouth to say something but she smiled wearily. "He's a tough cookie, believe me, I know. I guess I wasn't the one to break him. You must be special to be able to get him away from his work."

I stared at her sympathetically. If only she knew…I _was_ part of his work.

"Thanks Janine." I said softly. She nodded.

"See you later?" She said sweetly. I smiled.

"Maybe."

"What was that all about?" Egon asked as Louis shut the door behind me. I shrugged and joined them at the elevator.

"Not sure." I said. I kind of felt bad for Janine, but glad that at least she hadn't been the crazy ex-girlfriend type towards me. She seemed like she had moved on a long time ago, which was good.

Thunder rumbled as we entered the elevator. I looked around uncertainly before the doors shut us into the cab. Fear threatened to creep into my heart until we reached the ground floor and the doors once more opened. Egon stepped out first and Ray exchanged a silent glance with me before following me out of the elevator.

The lobby was almost empty now but the doorman still stood at the entrance, watching the streets lazily. He quickly shook off his dazed expression as he caught sight of the two Ghostbusters I was with and moved towards us.

"Dr. Stantz? There's a woman outside. She seemed really aggravated but she's been impatiently waiting for you all at your…vehicle." He said in a hushed voice, glancing over his shoulder outside. Ray and Egon both peeked around the doorman silently and could indeed see the silhouette of a person standing on the curb near the Ecto-1.

"Er…thanks for the warning." Ray said to the man as we headed out towards the car to see who was awaiting the Ghostbusters return. As soon as we hit the sidewalk outside I felt my chest fall.

"M…Margaret?" Ray asked somewhat relieved but with an edge to his voice. She immediately whirled around and stalked over to us, fuming.

"Are you this thorough for all of your clients? You all take _several_ visits to finally catch this ghost, and practically wreck my place of business before you're even done. And then to go so far as to _burn it to the ground_ …after you've told me the ghost has been caught… _what kind of people are you?_ "

Ray and Egon didn't answer right away. They both looked exhausted.

"I hope you know that I've…I've called people. I'm going to sue you for all you've got! You must have been scamming people for all these years, and then I actually have a real ghost and what do you do to her?! I can't believe this! I-"

"Margaret." I said softly over her yelling. I stepped past Egon and Ray with a glance towards them that was apologetic. Ray looked like he was about to say something then stopped himself. I turned back to Margaret who had stopped talking to confront the person in between her and the Ghostbusters.

Her eyes took a few seconds to fully focus on me and when they did she seemed even more infuriated at the two men behind me. She looked over my shoulder before looking back at me, her expression softening just the tiniest bit.

"I…" She squeaked. She stepped closer towards me, hesitating as if she was afraid of me. "M- _Melanie?!_ "

She raised her hand to my face and I awkwardly smiled. She flinched when her fingers grazed my cheek, like she had expected them to fall through me. She swung her gaze accusingly towards the two Ghostbusters behind me.

"What did you _do?_ "

"What's the matter, Margaret? Haven't you seen a ghost before?" Egon asked, a tinge of a joke in his voice. Margaret looked at them in disbelief. She lowered her hand to my shoulder and squeezed it briefly, warily looking back at my face.

"It _is_ you, isn't it?" She whispered. I nodded my head and smiled. She frowned and looked once more at Ray and Egon. "How is this possible?"

"This isn't what-"

"She's just-"

"It's not their doing." I said. She looked back at me quizzically.

I looked down at her wordlessly, trying to come up with what I wanted to say. I finally rolled my eyes and kicked off my high heels, shrinking back down to my usual height.

"Sorry, I really hate those things." I bent to pick them up and handed them to Egon. He smirked as he took them from me. "Don't tell Dana I said that."

"Melanie…I'm sorry. I'm sorry about what happened to you…I'm sorry we couldn't do more to help you…" Margaret stammered. I shook my head and smiled, slightly amused.

"I'm sorry about the warehouse." I said after a minute. Margaret stiffened and wiped the tears from her face. She cleared her throat and shook her head.

"I…After what I've seen tonight…I don't think I'm mentally stable enough to run that place anymore. This can't be real. And if it is…" She glanced at Egon suspiciously. He raised an eyebrow and she tore her eyes from him quickly. "Whatever you did to cause this…I think you've gone too far."

Egon looked at Ray worriedly. They both met my gaze and then looked back at Margaret. She swayed slightly and I caught her as she stumbled off balance. She braced herself against my arm and then sobbed again as she pulled me into a hug.

"Melanie…you were like a daughter to me. I…I just wanted you to know that." She said. I glanced around but thankfully the streets were nearly empty and no one else could see the scene that was playing out in front of Louis' apartment building.

"Thanks Margaret…" I said. I could tell she was exhausted and that the trauma of losing her whole business in one night had taken its toll on her.

"Are you going to be alright to get home, Margaret?" Ray finally spoke up. The woman pulled away from me a little too quickly and nodded.

"Yes…I'm surprised my husband hasn't sent the police after me yet." She said dryly. She straightened herself and then, after Ray and Egon were sure she would be alright on her own walking the few blocks back to her apartment, we watched her disappear down the street.

After a few minutes, we wordlessly piled into the Ecto-1, Egon and I in the backseat and Ray in the front. Ray waved at the dozing doorman still standing inside the apartment building lobby as he started the car and headed off in the direction of the firehouse.

"I kinda feel like a chauffeur up here…" Ray said lightheartedly from the driver's seat after a few minutes. I smirked briefly and met his eyes as he glanced at me in the rearview mirror. I quickly tore my gaze away from his and looked at my hands in my lap. Egon's grip around my shoulders tightened protectively.

"Ray, what did you say to her earlier?" Egon finally blurted. Ray looked away from me to Egon.

"I…" Ray trailed off, looking at me again. I shook my head pleadingly. Ray glanced back at the road worriedly.

"You upset her somehow and I want to know what you did to her." Egon said.

"I just asked her something about the warehouse fire. I didn't think…"

"Egon, it's no big deal, I'm just a little tired…" I tried to interrupt but Egon shushed me.

"No, I want to know what it was. You've been avoiding eye contact all evening." Egon said sternly. I bit back my words. Ray glanced apologetically to me in the rearview mirror and then took a breath.

"I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something that could potentially…" Ray's voice drifted off as he slowed the car to a stop and stared in awe at something Egon and I couldn't see. A bolt of lightning flashed across the skyline in front of the stopped car.

"Ray…what is it?" I asked when Ray didn't move. His knuckles were white from how tightly he gripped the steering wheel. I glanced at Egon worriedly. After another few seconds spent in silence, Egon leaned over the front seat to peer out of the front of the car where his colleague was staring.

"Ray." He said quietly. Ray swung his gaze to Egon's slowly. "Turn the car around."

"What? What is it?" I asked fearfully.

Egon silently leaned back into the seat next to me, placing his arm in front of me as Ray threw the car into reverse. He quickly switched gears without stopping and we were suddenly speeding in the opposite direction. I shoved Egon's arm away from me and whirled around to look out the back window of the car.

A dark cloud of fog was spreading throughout the streets. In it, I could vaguely see dim colors – auras as Ray had called them. And in the midst of it all stood Death, looking strangely small in the wide expanse of the darkness. Random flashes of light pulsed in the cloud, like lightning.

Ray quickly sped around the corner of a building and I was thrown into the door of the car. I quickly scrambled back into the seat and grabbed onto Egon's arm.

"How much of that could you see?" I asked. Egon shook his head.

"Enough." He said. He leaned over the seat once more to talk to Ray. "We need our proton packs."

"Well, we shouldn't have left them back at headquarters…" Ray muttered. He sped past a flash of colors on the sidewalk, which I knew was a crowd of ghosts watching the whole ordeal.

"Yeah, that was my fault. You know I don't like taking such dangerous equipment around needlessly…" Egon said. He braced himself with one hand on the handle of the ceiling as Ray flew around another corner wildly.

"Would you _be careful_!?" I screamed as we nearly clipped the side of a building coming around the curve. Ray didn't even look up to reply.

" _Come on_ …" He said as another burst of thunder seemed to sound from right above us. He slammed his foot on the gas through a red light but the car suddenly jerked to a stop. Ray threw a fearful glance up in the mirror and looked past me as he once more put the pedal to the floor. I could feel the back of the car slowly lift into the air and the wheels below us spin wildly. Egon dove forward into the floorboard of the car, scrambling under the seats for something.

"Egon what are you doing?!" I screamed. He finally came up with what looked like a handheld controller. I watched as he quickly turned a dial and pressed a button. A steady humming sound spread from the roof of the car and Egon sat holding his thumb over another button.

"Spengler…anytime now…" Ray suggested as he loosened the pressure on the gas pedal. I looked between the two men, my heart hammering in my chest. Egon's finger still hovered over the button, the humming sound above us growing louder. I looked behind us and could see what looked like long black tentacles reaching out from the spreading fog, wrapped around the bumper of the Ecto-1.

 _"_ _Do something!"_ I screamed. Egon hastily pressed the button and the charge that had been building up on top of the car was released in a burst of the same type of energy as what the Ghostbusters' had used in the proton packs. The blackness immediately disappeared and the back wheels of the car fell and bounced back down to the street. Ray was ready. He yanked the car into gear and stomped his foot on the gas.

I watched as the car sped quickly away from the fog, the distance between us and Death getting wider and wider. It was then that I realized that I had been holding my breath. Egon kept a tight grip of the controls in his hand, watching behind us in case he needed to use the equipment on top of the car again.

"Hold on!" Ray shouted over the sound of the rumbling thunder.

He swung the car violently to the left and slammed onto the brakes. Egon and I both were thrown into the back of the seats in front of us. As we adjusted to being stationary after Ray's reckless driving, I looked around and could see that we were in the dimly lit Ghostbusters firehouse. I glanced behind us and saw another flash of lightning split across the sky as the garage doors slammed shut behind the car.

"Now will you tell us what's going on?" Ray demanded. He turned to face me and Egon in the backseat, his face shining with beads of sweat. I shrank down as a loud crack of thunder shook the building.

"Melanie?!" Egon prompted. I shut my eyes and felt my chest tighten.

"I made a deal with him…with Death. In exchange for letting me go and spend Halloween night alive like usual…I would…" My shoulders slumped.

"What did you promise him, Melanie?" Egon was suddenly frantic with fear. I looked up at him in surprise.

"It doesn't matter now. I've already decided that I won't do what he asked. I _can't_ do what he asked." I said. Ray and Egon both gaped at me.

"It…do you realize what you're saying, Melanie? Don't you know how dangerous that is?" Ray exclaimed. I switched my gaze to his worriedly and nodded.

"How could you think this was a good idea?" Egon finally said.

"I knew neither of you would have let me make that deal, but I had to do something…" I said. Egon and Ray both exchanged disbelieving looks.

 _"_ _Why?"_ Egon asked.

"He was going to kill us all. It would have been alright if it had just been me, but…not you too." I said. Egon and Ray were both silent for a long time.

"What do we do?" Ray asked Egon quietly. I stared down at my lap numbly.

"Well, maybe we should call Pete and Winston. They need to know what's going on." Egon suggested thoughtfully.

"What _is_ going on?" Ray asked. I could feel them both looking at me. I finally raised my head and felt a few tears stream down my face.

"If he knows I'm not going through with what he wants me to do, then he's going to come for me. It'd probably be best if I go to him. I don't want any of you involved any more than you already are…" I said, surprisingly calm.

Egon hastily grabbed my wrist as I moved to open the side door of the Ecto-1. I stared at my other hand on the door handle, not wanting to look at either of them knowing that they would talk me out of my decision. I squeezed my eyes shut as another tear slid down my cheek.

"Egon, let me go." I choked out.

His hand trailed up my arm and he pulled me closer towards him. I lay my head on his chest and let another sob out. He wrapped his arms around me and smoothed my hair down as I cried.

"I'm…I'm sorry…" I said in between sobs. "I didn't know what to do…"

He held me even tighter, as if he was afraid to let me go.

"We're not going to let him get to you, Melanie. Even if that means…" Ray said. I opened my eyes and saw the determination on his face. "Sacrifice."


	35. Chapter 35 Egon's Nightmare

**If this chapter confuses anyone, I apologize in advance. The layout of the document gets a little messed up whenever I move it over to Fanfiction, but it should be alright. If you have any questions, let me know! I literally wrote most of this chapter this afternoon so I didn't get to do my usual, read, reread, tweak, reread, tweak, and reread like I usually do. I just wanted to post again though, because I know I'm getting really slow at it. Please read and review to let me know how it's going!**

Egon sat in the armchair next to the couch in the upstairs lab/rec room. Ray was on the phone with Louis, trying to get ahold of Peter and Winston but Louis had told him that both of the missing Ghostbusters had already left the party and gone their separate ways. Winston had gone out for coffee with his newfound date, Anna, and Peter had taken a taxi back to Dana's apartment.

"We'll see how long that lasts once they see what's out there." Ray said, slightly flustered as he hung up the phone. Egon handed him a cup of coffee which the other man took with a sigh. Egon glanced down at the couch where Melanie lay sleeping fitfully.

"She claims she didn't know what to do but now I feel like _I'm_ the one who can't do enough to reassure _her_ …" Egon said softly. Ray raised an eyebrow and looked between the sleeping girl and Egon.

"Spengler, you do know that she's…" Ray started. Egon nodded solemnly.

"I haven't forgotten, Ray." He muttered. He studied Melanie wearily. "I just wish there was some way…"

"There can't be. Do you know how many liabilities could come with attempting something of that magnitude?" Ray said, knowing what his friend was thinking. Egon didn't answer. After a long time, Ray set his coffee mug down on the table and headed into the bedroom.

The thunder had all but stopped, and rain had begun to pelt mercilessly against the building. Egon could also hear a fierce wind picking up outside, sounding like a wailing siren.

Melanie suddenly sat up and looked around. She spotted Egon sitting quietly by her side and blinked sleepily.

"Can we go out to get some coffee or something?" She asked timidly. Egon looked at the bedroom door where Ray had disappeared to and then shrugged.

"I'm sure that would be alright." He said without thinking.

He helped her to her feet and she followed him down the stairs and out onto the empty sidewalk. It was surprisingly clear outside, and the warmth of the night did a lot to calm his nerves.

The two of them walked together in silence for several minutes and eventually Melanie reached out and grasped his hand in hers. He smiled down at her and she leaned into him for support as they walked.

The streets were strangely quiet, which brought on an eerie atmosphere. But Melanie was there by his side, and Egon knew he had to be strong for her. Finally she stopped walking and turned to him.

"Melanie…what is it?" He asked calmly. She looked up into his eyes longingly. Her eyes shone with tears and she blinked quickly, looking down at the ground briefly before meeting his gaze once more.

"Egon…I want to stay with you." She whispered. Egon was taken aback.

"Of course…I was just telling Ray that I think I found something in one of the books I was reading earlier…" He said quickly. Melanie shook her head slowly.

"That's not what I meant."

Egon frowned and moved to say something but she beat him to it.

"Would you die for me?"

Egon froze and stared down at her confusedly. His heart skipped a beat and he suddenly couldn't find any words. She smiled sadly and then melted away, her grip falling through his. His eyes widened in horror and then he was suddenly blinded by two bright beams of light coming his way. A car horn blared and then everything went black.

 _"_ _Egon!"_

Thunder exploded overhead and Egon shot upright, his heart hammering in his chest. He gasped for breath and then slumped back down as he was blinded by a room full of bright lights. He removed his glasses and pressed his palms into his eyes.

"Egon…you were having a nightmare."

He blinked and put his glasses back on to see Melanie gazing down at him worriedly. He looked around and could see that he was back in the Ghostbusters' firehouse. Melanie stood over him, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders tightly. She fell back to the couch, relieved and curled up underneath the blanket once more.

Egon silently clutched at his chest where a shooting pain had resurfaced. Melanie gazed at him seriously. She swallowed the forming lump in her throat before speaking.

"I hurt you, didn't I? When I brought you back." He glanced at her, forcing nonchalance.

"I'm fine, Melanie. Just startled." He explained. She shook her head.

"No you're not fine. What happened when I brought you back?" She leaned forward and placed her hand over his on his chest. He gasped in pain and she tried to pull away but he grabbed her hand and moved it back to the spot over his heart. He met her worried gaze, feeling his heart beat faster as he remembered the experience he had in the warehouse.

"I remember being thrown into something and then slumping to the ground, letting darkness consume me. As I blacked out, I remember having one thought…" He nodded to Melanie. "You."

Melanie blinked and smiled halfheartedly, waiting for him to continue.

"And then I was standing behind you, but despite the raging fires around us, I was freezing. It was a cold that started here…" He pressed Melanie's palm to his chest and her eyes filled with tears.

"I know that feeling all too well…" She said shakily. She bit her lip and looked away. With his other hand, Egon reached up and nudged her chin so that she had to look at him.

"I wasn't worried about that. I was worried about _you._ It was the first time I touched you and…you were so beautiful. But your sadness was so overwhelming and when you wouldn't look at me…it made the cold so much more intense. And when you placed your hand over my heart and…did whatever it was that you did…the cold was gone."

Melanie stared into his eyes as he told her all that he could remember. When he finally trailed off in thought, she blinked and lowered her gaze to her hand on his chest. He slowly took his hand away and she gently stroked the fabric of his Ghostbusters uniform.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked. He studied her carefully and was surprised that the pain had subsided in the time he had been talking with her. He smiled and shook his head, taking her hand gently.

"Not with you here."

She looked up at him longingly and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He felt her shiver fearfully as a crash of thunder sounded from above. Egon glanced up at the ceiling worriedly, holding Melanie tighter.

"Egon…I'm afraid I'm going to lose you." She whispered. He held her close and kissed her cheek reassuringly.

"I'm not going anywhere." He breathed.

He moved to the couch and let her snuggle up closer to him. As she lay against his chest, Egon noticed that all of the lights in the room had been switched on. He chuckled lightly.

"Melanie, why are all of the lights on?"

She turned and glanced up at him with a dry smile and settled back against his chest.

"I was just being cautious."

Egon laughed and leaned his head against the back of the couch. He could feel his exhaustion creeping up on him again and he closed his eyes wearily.

"Egon?" Melanie said softly after a few minutes.

"Mhm?" He mumbled half asleep.

"What was your nightmare about?" She asked. He shook his head thoughtfully, his eyes remaining closed.

"Just something I had to think about."


	36. Chapter 36 Death's Return

I stirred awake after what felt like a really deep sleep. I glanced around confusedly and found that I still lay against Egon on the large couch. My stomach did a little flip flop as I realized how close he was and I smiled. I blinked the sleep from my head and then felt my heart skip a beat.

All of the lights were out.

I slowly sat up, feeling icy terror spread through my body. Lightning flashed and I could see the silhouette of a man standing in the center of the room in front of me. The terror died down and was almost instantly replaced with anger.

"What are you doing here?" I said, my voice sounding bolder than I actually felt. A rumble of thunder followed another flicker of lightning and I could see Death strolling closer towards me.

"You remember our deal…" He said warningly. I glanced back at Egon and slowly stood up so I wouldn't wake him. I whirled on the other man as he moved even closer.

"I remember." I said.

"Then proceed then." He gestured around with another flash of lightning. I looked around and hastily shook my head.

"You know I've already decided not to. I can't just… _destroy_ …all of their hard work. You can't ask me to do that." I said, my voice shaking only the tiniest bit. I heard another crash of thunder and nearly fell as it rumbled throughout the room.

"That was the deal though, Melanie." Death growled. I shrank away from him, then stopped myself. I had to keep up the image that I wasn't afraid of him.

"If you knew I wouldn't keep it, then why did you agree to it?" I asked. I could feel the cold radiating off of him as he stepped even closer.

"I got to thinking…these Ghostbusters you led me to have made a fortune in undoing a lot of my work. I figured that if I could get myself in to their headquarters…and managed to get rid of their equipment and research…they'd have nothing left to stop the dead from taking over."

I blinked confusedly and held up my hand to stop him from coming any closer.

"You're changing your story…at first you didn't want me to stay around and now you're wanting the dead to come back? I'm…I don't understand…" I said. His eyes suddenly lit up like red flames in the dark room and I felt my heart quicken its pace.

"It _was_ about you to start with. But now…" He grabbed my left wrist and twisted it. I cried out in pain and gasped as he pulled me closer to him. "Now…it's so much bigger than that."

He shoved me across the floor and I hit the armchair next to the couch. My wrist throbbed but I swallowed back the pain and blindly reached around on the floor.

"If you destroy their work, they'll just redo everything. You can't stop them completely." I said, as I finally found what I was looking for. Death flew towards me triumphantly.

"Then I suppose I'll just have to get rid of them too, now, won't I?" He breathed. I glared up at him in disbelief. He turned and moved towards the couch where Egon was still sleeping.

"Not on my watch…" I growled as I chucked one of Dana's high heels at Death. He whirled around and suddenly all of the dormant lights in the room started glowing with white hot energy. I shielded my face with my arm and crawled backwards as he advanced on me.

"If you won't keep your part of the deal, then here, let me help you."

He gestured towards the computer against the wall. I quickly jumped up and dove towards it and grabbed it before it could tumble off of the desk. I gritted my teeth against the pain in my wrist but managed to hold on to it. Death's eyes shone with amusement and he simply spun around and caused the few P.K.E. meters Egon had scattered on the counter to spontaneously combust with loud popping noises. I stumbled under the weight of the huge computer in my hands and quickly moved it to the ground before I could drop it.

"No - _stop!"_ I cried as papers and boxes of half-finished gadgets were thrown to the floor. I chased after a box that held what looked like the beginnings of a new proton pack. I grabbed onto the sides of the box and let out a startled cry when it dragged me halfway across the room. It pulled me into the pool table and I got the wind knocked out of me as my hands slipped and I was forced to hurriedly climb over the table to grab the box before it could smash against the wall.

"Melanie?!"

I turned my head to see that Egon had woken up, thankfully, and was rushing after some of his equipment. Death seemed to further increase the damage he was causing as he spotted Egon on his feet.

"What's going on?" Egon shouted as he stumbled over a fallen table. I glared at Death as I realized that he had made himself invisible to Egon.

"He's here!" I said as I grabbed a chair and threw it at Death to distract him. He simply phased through it, amusement flickering over his face. I could see from across the room that Egon was struggling to try and save his equipment. I felt my heart wrench every time one of his carefully made devices shattered against each other.

"NOT THE PACKS!" Egon yelled desperately. I whirled around and spotted the four proton packs on the table where Ray and Egon had stored them for easy access. The packs were slowly rising into the air, twitching mechanically. I looked at Egon confusedly and then saw his face pale with fear as he rushed towards them. I dove toward them and threw myself on top of the nearest one as it started to levitate into the air. It fell to the floor with my weight and I quickly reached up for the strap of another one. Egon did the same, but only managed to stop one.

That left one proton pack still in the air, taunting us. I struggling to stay on top of the one below me and was being pulled in the other direction by the strap of the other. My left hand painfully gripped the strap and then I could feel the strap loosening.

"Egon, I can't hold it!" I cried. He reached up quickly and yanked the pack down by the handle. We both glanced up as the remaining proton pack sailed across the room. I choked out a scream as Egon moved in front of me.

"I've got it!"

Ray leapt out of the bunkroom and grabbed the flying pack before it could hit the wall. I breathed a sigh of relief and could see the worry flush out of Egon's face as well. Ray turned to us with a triumphant smile which instantly dissolved as he spotted the huge computer system rumbling unnervingly against the wall. He ran towards it, slinging the strap of the proton pack over his shoulder.

A flashing red light showed up on one of the main screens and he frantically started pushing buttons to fix it. Egon rushed over there as well, helping me with the heavy packs. We ducked as a chair was thrown at us and finally reached Ray's side.

"What's happening?" I asked breathlessly. Egon flipped a switch while Ray continued punching buttons and shaking his head.

"System malfunction…" Egon mumbled. His eyes were full of dread. I whirled around and found that Death had moved silently to my side.

"Stop this, please!" I begged. He smiled and shook his head.

"It's only just started." He said as he plunged his hand through the machine. It instantly started sputtering and smoking. Red warning lights flashed across every screen in the computer system and Egon and Ray worked faster to get it to stop. I dropped the proton packs I was holding and dove forward to grab Death's forearm. My hands were instantly freezing but I forced myself to hold on. Surprised, he released his hold inside the machine and the machine went completely silent. He threw me aside and stood over me threateningly.

"Get him!" Ray shouted as he and Egon both fired their proton streams at the man standing over me.

Death spun around and flinched as the streams struck him. He swung his arm and sent out a psychokinetic pulse that knocked Egon and Ray against the ruined computer system behind them. Death must have made himself visible then because both of the Ghostbusters seemed dumbstruck as he advanced on them. He reached down and grabbed them both up and slammed them against the machine.

"You insolent men think you can stop me?" He growled.

Ray's eyes were full of terror as he struggled to break Death's grip. His proton pack hit the floor with a dull thud and he kicked wildly as Death glanced down at the fallen pack. Of course Death was able to react quickly and phase through Ray's kicks. Egon just glared up at the man holding them, but I could see a calculating gleam in his eyes. I crawled towards them and grabbed one of the remaining proton packs at their feet. I retreated a few feet away and stood up, leaving the pack on the floor and charging it up as I held the blaster at the ready.

"No one can stop me from getting what I want." Death growled. His hands started to radiate with a red glow and I hurriedly flipped the switch to fire. The blast slammed into Death's back and both Ray and Egon slumped to the ground, coughing as the air finally reached their lungs.

"Melanie… _run!_ " Egon shouted.

Death whipped around and I dropped the proton pack's handle and fled towards the stairs. I managed to run halfway down and then he was upon me. I fell to the firehouse ground floor as he sent a flash of power towards me. I scrambled to my feet as he teleported to my side for an agonizing blow to my side.

He stopped over me for a moment as if he was listening to something. I watched as he slowly turned his head and looked towards the basement. Confused, I looked in the same direction. He turned back to me and smirked knowingly. He shoved me aside and made his way towards the steps leading down to the basement.

 _"_ _He can't get to the containment unit!"_ Ray shouted. He and Egon both rushed down the stairs after him. Death didn't even look behind him as he gestured his hand to the side and I heard a high pitched shrieking noise behind me. The Ecto-1 skidded across the floor of the garage and bumped into the foot of the staircase, nearly hitting the two Ghostbusters as they reached the final few steps. Metal screamed and I could see a pang of hurt hit Ray's eyes as his car slammed into the wall, denting a good amount of the front hood and bumper. He was instantly furious.

"HEY! Get back here! We're not finished with you yet!" He yelled. Death ignored them and disappeared out of sight down the basement stairs.

"He's going to do it…" I said in disbelief.

"…what?" Egon called from across the room. His voice sounded strained and when 1 turned back to them, I could see that they were struggling to get past the car.

"He's going to release the ghosts…that _is_ what's in the containment unit, isn't it?" I asked. Egon and Ray exchanged a glance and I took that as a yes.

I turned and ran down the basement stairs after Death, hoping that I could get down there in time.

"Melanie, get back here!" Egon shouted after me. I ignored him. If Death was able to reach the containment unit before one of us did…and he released all of the ghosts that the Ghostbusters had captured…that wouldn't be good.

I reached the bottom of the basement stairs and stopped at the sight that waited for me.

Death stood in front of the bright red containment unit, eyes closed. His hands were outstretched and I could feel him drinking in the power that radiated off of the other ghosts in the system.

I crept across the room and shoved my way between the containment unit and Death. After a few seconds his eyes opened in confusion and then he found me. He considered me thoughtfully for a moment and then smiled wearily.

"Even alive you have such a strong aura, Melanie. Compared to the others trapped in this prison here, you outshine them all." He shook his head. "Why is that?"

"Because I still have my heart. And you're not taking it from me." I said fiercely. Death scoffed.

"I don't have to. I've found something of equal value." He nodded behind me. "If I get my hands on those lost souls in there, my dwindling army could resurface and the city would be mine. And once everyone in the city is dead…well then the only thing to do then is to send my army around the world. Then there will be nothing but death here. And your Ghostbusters would be the first to go."

"I won't let that happen." I growled. His eyes twinkled.

"You can't stop me! You've tried and only delayed me. You think you actually convinced me that you would keep a promise that would hurt your loved ones? I knew you would betray me… _again._ I just wanted to see your story play out so that I could build you up to tear you down even harder. And it's going to feel so nice to see you as one of my army…"

He reached towards me and I felt a cold pull in my chest where he was barely touching me. I gasped for breath but refused to step away from the containment unit. I clenched my fists as the cold slowly spread through my chest and to my shoulders. I squeezed my eyes shut as the cold spread up my neck, leaving a coppery taste in my mouth. I whimpered in fear as I knew that I would collapse at any second.

"Melanie!" Egon cried. I heard a proton pack being fired and I opened my eyes to see Death deflect the energy from himself. Death growled and then tossed me into the wall. I felt the cold of the basement cinderblock walls and I was out cold before I even hit the floor.


	37. Chapter37Protecting the Containment Unit

**Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated...but I'm finally on my vacation. It's been so relaxing to get away from work for a while, I'm not ready to go back yet! I found my way up to the public wifi spot though, and I hastily typed up a little of this chapter. I hope it's okay! Let me know if it's a little weak, I didn't have time to do much editing! Please review! :)**

Egon watched as Melanie disappeared into the basement and shook his head angrily, pounding a fist on the Ecto-1's already ruined hood. He leapt on top of the car's hood and ran along it and jumped down on the other side.

"Watch it!" Ray called. He groaned and then climbed over the car as well. He ran after Egon down to the basement, realizing that he didn't have a proton pack. Egon still wore his, which he drew as they reached the bottom of the basement stairs.

They reached the room in time see Death seemingly torturing Melanie in order to get her out of his way to the containment unit. She stubbornly refused to move, taking in all that Death was possessing her with. His hands were glowing with what looked like red and black embers and that seemed to be what he was slowly tearing the poor girl down with. Her knees shook weakly and she slowly started to slump to the ground.

"Melanie!" Egon called to try and rouse her from going unconscious. She turned her head towards his voice and then Death threw her aside where she hit the opposite wall and fell in a crumpled heap to the floor. Egon hastily ran to take her place between Death and the containment unit, being the only one of the two Ghostbusters that was armed with a proton pack. Ray ran to Melanie.

"Hey! Hey – Melanie!" Ray said as he carefully turned her towards him. He was relieved to see that she was still breathing, forcibly, but still breathing. He slid an arm up under her back to lift her up slightly and she cried out in pain.

"Ray, get her out of here!" Egon yelled from across the basement. Death laughed darkly as he enjoyed the show in front of him.

"Melanie…you're okay. Just hold on for me, alright?" Ray said as he took in her injuries. He brushed the tangled curls from her face and could see that a thin stream of blood ran down her temple and her left shoulder seemed to be dislocated. Bruises had already started to show on her neck and arms. One leg splayed out to the side, but as far as Ray could see it wasn't broken.

Ray could hear Death taunting Egon as he toyed with his prey. Egon shifted his gaze to Ray and Melanie, wanting badly to run to her himself but knowing that he needed to defend the containment unit from being unleashed.

"I find it hilarious that you all think you can really prevent this from happening." Death chuckled. Egon charged up the wand in his hand, waiting for Ray to move Melanie out of the room so that he could get a clear shot at Death without worrying about hitting her or his colleague.

"Melanie, you have to stay awake…" Ray said as he gently touched her face. Her eyes fluttered slightly but stayed closed. Ray glanced up at Egon who motioned for him to hurry.

"She's the least of your worries right now, you know." Death said, moving forward. He now stood inches from Egon's outstretched particle thrower.

"I know." Egon said as he planted his feet firmly on the ground. He fired a quick burst of protonic energy which caught the ghostly man off guard. He backed off a few paces and then laughed.

"My turn…" Death growled, a devilish grin spreading across his pale face. He held out his hand and a deep crimson blade melted into view in his hands. Egon straightened up in surprise and then reminded himself that he needed to stay aware of what was going on and not let his curiosity get the better of him. He clicked the particle thrower back to charge it up once more.

"Ray…" Egon warned his friend. Death took another step.

"Melanie...stay with us, _please_. We need you…" Ray said urgently, tearing his gaze away from his friend who was attempting to stand his ground. Ray stared down at Melanie's pale face worriedly. "…Egon needs you."

Melanie's eyes fluttered open slowly at Egon's name. She whimpered in pain and then slowly started to move. She winced and collapsed back in Ray's arms as he silently cheered in relief.

"Good! Alright, don't move too much…we're going to try to get you out of here…" Ray said as he looked back at Egon. Death was almost upon him now, taking painstakingly slow steps towards the lone Ghostbuster to provoke more fear.

"R-Ray…" Melanie murmured, her voice choked with pain. Ray glanced down at her and shifted his arm to wipe a tear that was rolling down her cheek. She attempted to get up once more but he held her tighter to stop her sudden movements.

"Melanie, your shoulder's dislocated and I think you might have a concussion. Let me help you up, don't try to do it on your own." He said. Her eyes flew open and she glared up at him in frustration.

"Ray, you're a doctor, just pop it back into place or something…" She grumbled. Ray quickly shook his head.

"Not that kind of…"

"I'll do it myself then!" She choked out. She managed to twist her arm partway to the right but then cried out as the pain prevented her from going any further. Ray held her tightly until she'd quieted her cries and then he met her eyes warily. She took a deep breath and then Ray twisted her arm the rest of the way back into place. She screamed in agony and then her eyes slowly started to go unfocused.

"Okay Melanie…we've gotta go now…" Ray said as he lifted her up and started to turn towards the stairs. He hesitated and looked back at his friend.

"RAY!" Egon shouted. Death was raising his weapon, ready to strike Egon aside with it so that he could reach what he so sorely wanted.

Melanie's head whipped towards his voice and she reached towards him with her burning arm. Ray watched in disbelief as a trail of blue energy flew from her outstretched palm and formed into a completely solid wall between Death and Egon. It was as if the structure was made of ice. Death barely had time to react, and when his blade swung against her energy field, the weapon shattered in a burst of blue smoke.

Death whirled around and was suddenly standing over Melanie and Ray. Melanie still lay in Ray's arms, her own injured arm still outstretched toward Egon who stood in bewildered silence staring at the wall in front of him. She faced Death down with a weary anger in her eyes, and there was nothing but pure fury in his own glowing red eyes.

"Wow, Ghost girl! Where'd you learn that new trick?"

Death glared up as Peter and Winston stumbled down the stairs, each equipped with their proton packs.

"Nice to see you too, dude." Winston said as he clicked his particle thrower on and fired at Death who was forced away from Ray and Melanie.

"Careful! Watch the containment unit!" Egon said, firing his own as Death attempted to get back up.

"How'd you guys know where to find us?" Ray asked as Winston and Peter joined him at the foot of the stairs.

"Easy. We just followed the fireworks show to the firehouse and then heard Ghost girl's lovely screams." Peter said, glancing at the half-conscious girl in Ray's arms. "Gee, Melanie…you're not looking too hot."

"Shut up. Ray, put me down." Melanie mumbled. She shifted in Ray's arms and he quickly shook his head.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea, Melanie…" Ray said. She stopped and glared at him once again. When her gaze wouldn't falter he finally relented to put her down.

When he titled her so that she could step to the ground, instead of her bare feet hitting the cement floor, they stopped about an inch from it. She daintily stepped out of his arms and took a few steps, hovering that inch or so above the floor. Ray was dumbfounded.

"Melanie! What are you doing? Get out of here, _now!_ " Egon shouted over the sounds of three proton packs firing. When he saw that she wasn't listening to him he looked to Ray behind her. "Ray, stop her!"

Melanie cast a quick look behind her and Ray stopped in his tracks. He glanced up at Egon and shrugged. Egon silently cursed under his breath.

Melanie slowly limped towards where Winston and Peter were firing randomly at the furious demon in the middle of the basement. They had a system going... the three armed Ghostbusters stood in a large triangle around Death, one firing after another in quick bursts. They were really just distracting him. First, Peter would fire and when Death whirled around to face him, Winston would fire and then Egon. The same thing happened each time. When Death was ready to strike, he would focus his energy on the one lone Ghostbuster and thus make himself vulnerable to the others' proton streams.

Ray stood watching Melanie as she managed to cross the room to reach Egon's side in front of the containment unit. Egon glanced at her wearily and she met his eyes calmly as she stood beside him. Egon fired and Melanie raised her hand towards Death, sending off a weak burst of energy along with his stream. When Death turned to meet Egon's latest burst of protonic energy, he froze in anger. Winston and Peter both fired at once but Death didn't acknowledge them. He simply stared at Melanie.

"What's the safest distance we need to get away from this containment unit of yours so we can finish battling this out?" Melanie murmured to Egon. Egon looked up at the ceiling.

"The roof." He replied. Death narrowed his eyes, unable to hear the hasty plan Egon and Melanie were putting together. Melanie nodded, trying to collect herself. Without warning, she dashed across the basement, ducking as Death swung at her. She stumbled past Ray and towards the stairs, calling over her shoulder.

"Come on, Death. Let's finish this."


	38. Chapter 38 Rooftop Battle

**Hey guys! I was VERY torn while writing this chapter this week but I think I'm finally sticking with this. You know you're in too deep when you write for hours and then go back and delete half of what you've written to rewrite it a different way...Let me know what you think about what I've got though! Thanks! :)**

As Melanie rushed out of the room, the wall of psychokinetic energy melted away like mist. Egon stared at the spot curiously for a moment and then looked up as Winston and Peter ran to back him up in front of the containment unit. Death seemed to hesitate for a brief moment, casting a burning glare at each of the four Ghostbusters. When his eyes landed on Ray at the bottom of the stairs, he let out an inhuman growl and dove toward him.

"Look out, Ray!" Egon called as he fired after the demon. Death was blown away by the force of his proton stream. Ray ducked out of the way as a light fixture from the ceiling fell to the ground. Death was up again, but unmoving, clearly at war with himself.

"Charge 'em up!" Peter said as Death swung his red eyed gaze at the three Ghostbusters in front of the containment unit. But Death had lost interest in the unit…for the moment. Melanie's outburst of supernatural power had tempted him once again. Ray dove to the ground out of the way as Death flew up the stairs after the girl.

Peter, Winston and Egon all inwardly sighed in relief.

"Well. At least now we know what makes him tick." Winston said.

"How'd she do that?!" Peter exclaimed, looking at the spot where the wall had disappeared. Ray and Egon both flashed him a knowing glance.

"No time to think about that, let's go!" Egon was the first to rush up the stairs after Melanie and the demon she was running from.

None of the Ghostbusters noticed as the lever on the door to the containment unit slowly started to twitch downward.

"Melanie?!" Egon called as he reached the ground floor. Ecto-1 still lay blocking the staircase, its front bumper and hood smashed into the wall. Scanning the first floor of the firehouse, he still saw no signs of Death or Melanie. He heard a door slam up above him and knew that she was somehow working her way up to the rooftop despite her injuries.

"Spengler! Where'd she go?" Ray said breathlessly as he reached the top of the stairs. Egon was already climbing over Ecto-1's hood for the second time that night.

"We're going to the roof!" Egon called over his shoulder as he leapt down on the other side of the car and started to rush up the stairs.

As the four Ghostbusters scrambled up the stairs to the ruined lab/rec room, Peter and Winston both paused to take in the damage. Apparently in their haste to grab a proton pack, they had overlooked the mess before. Egon trudged through the wreckage towards the emergency rooftop exit.

"Okay, we'll grab a couple of traps and maybe one of the slime blowers. Maybe we'll have better luck with that." Peter said slowly as he scanned the room for any sign of the said objects.

Ray shook his head dejectedly and moved to pick up the last proton pack on the ground. Winston helped him lift the heavy pack onto his back and Ray hastily fastened the waist strap.

"Any idea where that slime blower is, Ray?" Peter asked again. Ray glanced around halfheartedly but Egon was the one to answer.

"It's gone, Venkman. Everything's gone." He said as he pulled open the door and stepped up to the roof.

"Well…at the least we've still got the packs…" Winston said, trying to stay on the bright side. Ray scoffed.

"Yeah. We'd already be blown sky high if they had been destroyed with the rest of our equipment." Ray moved to follow Egon, when suddenly the building started to shake and rumble as thunder erupted from above. Egon whirled around and looked back at the doorway that led to the stairs. A green glow was emanating from the lower level of the firehouse.

 _"_ _He pulled the lever!"_ Egon shouted. He moved to rush back downstairs but Ray stopped him and shoved him back towards the rooftop exit.

"Spengler, go! We'll handle this!" Ray yelled over the crashing sounds of the thunder and the eruption of the containment unit.

Egon hesitated and watched as Winston and Peter both ran down the stairs firing their proton streams at the ghosts trying to escape the firehouse. Ray flashed him a reassuring smile that didn't reach his eyes, as he turned and ran down after the other two Ghostbusters. Egon stumbled back, feeling the building's weight shift below him and shoved himself out onto the rooftop.

He shielded his face as he was blinded by a bright flash of blue. When the light receded, he spotted Melanie and realized that the light was coming from her as she was attempting to block Death's far stronger energy blasts. Her dull blue energy fields wavered under the dark demon's burning red force.

Death was slowly bearing down on her and when her knees collapsed to the rooftop, a crash of thunder sounded around them. She winced but threw her hands up, releasing another flash of blue light that only pushed Death away a few feet. She managed to clumsily climb to her feet and took a shaky step towards him, floating an inch off of the ground so she wouldn't put too much weight on her injured leg.

Rain pelted down on Melanie, her brown hair stuck to her pale face and the dress she wore clung to her thin form. She held her left arm close to herself, and Egon could see painful tears running down her face along with the rain. She didn't seem to notice his presence on the rooftop yet.

"Melanie, duck!" He shouted as Death leapt towards her. She quickly fell to her knees, crying out. Egon fired his particle thrower and the force of it blew Death across the rooftop to the edge of the building. Death raised his hands to send a burst of energy at the man, but Melanie threw her own blue blast towards him, causing him to disappear over the side of the firehouse. Egon holstered the weapon and ran to Melanie as she picked herself back up.

Suddenly the thunder grew louder and Melanie looked up in awe as hundreds of lights rose up around them.

"E-Egon? Are you seeing this?" She breathed. She gazed around and could make out vague shapes and forms among the multiple colored lights. Egon was studying the arm she had clutched to her side as he looked around wearily.

"Yes. The containment unit was shut off…again." He mumbled. Lighting lit up the sky and was quickly followed by another rumble of thunder that shook the building.

"Again?" Melanie asked, still looking around in wonder. Egon nodded.

"After the first incident, I was able to rewire a few things so it won't blow up the whole building like it did last time. But it sure feels like it's close to doing just that." He said as the building gave a groan beneath them. Melanie was unaffected by the movement, as she floated just barely above the ground.

"How did you get them back last time?" She asked as she held her uninjured arm up towards the sky. The rain still fell around them, but she didn't seem to notice. A bright purple ghost flew towards Melanie and gently waved its hand over hers. She smiled wearily as it flew away at the sight of Egon reaching for his particle thrower.

"It took some effort." He said. He gently reached out and took her left wrist which had turned purple from where Death had twisted it. She pulled away from Egon as he moved to examine her shoulder.

"They seem…peaceful…" Melanie said as more ghosts started to swarm up towards the rooftop. Egon warily took a step back as Melanie was cast in the glow of a pair of green ghosts that surrounded her. She smiled as she looked at the smaller of the two. It was then that Egon realized that these two ghosts were the mother and daughter they had seen earlier in the evening. He relaxed a little.

Melanie whipped her head around as a high pitched screech echoed through the loud pelting rain and thunder. A huge clawed black hand grasped the edge of the rooftop and Death was there hoisting himself over the side of the building and onto the roof. He had given up his human façade and now stood before them as a creature of nothing but shadows. His red eyes stood out, and when he bared his teeth, they were filed into sharp brilliantly white fangs.

Melanie's smile faded and then all of the ghosts surrounding her changed. What had once been a multitude of different green, purple, pink, and orange lights, now instantly faded into red. The ghosts that had been docile, peaceful creatures only seconds before were suddenly murderous and they all flew behind Death who stood, grinning down at Melanie and her Ghostbuster.

"Do I even need to say, 'I told you so'?" Death's voice rumbled as the thunder picked back up. Melanie swung herself in front of Egon, attempting to put up her blue wall of protective energy between them and the army of ghosts in front of them.

Death gestured towards her and two ghosts flew at her and grabbed her arms. She cried out as they seemed to burn her skin through the soaking wet black sleeves of her dress. The blue energy surrounding her blinked and smoldered as the ghosts overwhelmed her. She lost her foothold on the air and her feet met the rooftop ground. She gasped in pain as she was forced to put weight on her right leg. Egon fired at the ghosts holding her and they shrieked at him, releasing Melanie and fleeing back towards Death.

Egon switched his neutrino wand to full stream and sent a blast straight at the shadow man in front of him. The ghosts behind Death swarmed in front of him, taking the full force of the blast. Another crash of thunder caused even more dread to fall over Egon. He looked down at Melanie as she studied her arms, trying to form another of her energy barriers. The sleeves of her dress were burned and tattered, showing off her bruised and singed shoulders. She glanced up at Egon worriedly.

"I…I know what to do…" She said as he helped her to her feet.

She was on the ground, her feet in a puddle of rainwater, leaning on his shoulder for support. She slowly pulled herself away from him and was instantly surrounded by the red ghosts. They pulled at her hair and limbs, but she forced herself closer into the swarm of ghosts. Death glared at her as she advanced, and when her hands started to glow weakly blue, he sent a force towards her that knocked her across the rooftop. She rolled for several feet and then threw her hand out to catch herself as she tumbled too near the edge.

Egon fired another proton stream at Death which gripped him around the forearm. Death struggled to shake the stream free but Egon forced his particle thrower to the limits and hung on.

"Stop! Get off of me!" Melanie screamed. Egon glanced over to where she stood fending off a dozen clawing and screeching ghosts. Her hands were still glowing with a weak blue light but each time she made contact against one of the hostile ghosts, her glowing pulsed brighter.

Just then the door to the rooftop burst open and the other three Ghostbusters emerged.

"Egon, we were too late…it's too late to just shut it back on, we'll have to…" Ray stopped as he saw the crowd of ghosts in front of him. Peter and Winston both forced him out of the way as they erupted onto the rooftop, quickly taking assessments of the situation.

"Well. We've gotta get started somewhere." Peter said as he turned and took a whole swarm of red ghosts for his own. Winston rushed over to help him when even more ghosts appeared from the streets below.

"Ray! I could use your help over here, please!" Egon called. Ray nodded and started his way towards where Egon stood holding Death by the arm. As he stepped away from the exit, an ambush of red ghosts charged at him, having been lying in wait over the door.

"You're…gonna have to give me a minute!" Ray called as he attempted to shake the ghosts off.

Death took Egon's distracted moment to his advantage. He swung his arm towards Egon, breaking the stream and shoving him to the ground. Thunder loomed over him and he tried to gain his senses quickly before the next attack.

"I told you to leave him alone!" Melanie screamed. Egon saw her stumble past him at a running pace. She raised her hands and sent a striking pulse of energy towards the surprised Death. When she got even closer for another swipe, he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Since you chose to break our deal, I can do whatever I wish!" He said, his rumbling voice eerily calm. She gripped his shadowy arm with her other hand which radiated with her blue energy. Death growled in pain and shoved her aside. She scrambled to her feet, throwing another weak blow of energy at him but Death was furious now. He moved quickly towards her and she scrambled to back away at the same time.

Egon leapt to his feet, firing his proton stream after Death. It seemed to have almost no effect until Ray came to his aid and helped him to wrangle one of Death's arms. The demon stumbled backward and tried to yank himself free. Both Egon and Ray planted their feet firmly on the ground to hold him.

"Hey, you got him! Hang on, we'll be there in a second!" Peter yelled from across the rooftop. The ghosts they were fighting realized what was happening and seemed to strengthen their attacks on the two Ghostbusters. They all seemed to be scrambling to reach Egon and Ray but Peter and Winston were quick to stop them.

"I'm gonna try and move to wrangle his other arm! You got this one?" Ray called as Death let out another inhuman roar. Egon fidgeted with the neutrino wand in his grasp and then nodded.

"I believe so…" He replied. Ray quickly flicked his proton stream off and swung his thrower towards Death's other flailing arm. Melanie stood in front of Death, helping Egon hold his other arm in place with her blinking blue energy.

Ray fired on Death's arm but before his stream could lock in on its target, Death yanked his free arm away and threw a pulse of dark energy towards Melanie.

Melanie cried out as she was thrown back several feet towards the edge of the building. She stumbled for balance, eyes wide.

 _"_ _Melanie!"_ Egon shouted. He switched off his proton stream and ran to her, knowing he was leaving himself vulnerable to whatever Death had to throw at him.

"Egon, what are you doing?!" Ray called, overwhelmed as Death was freed. Death turned on him and Ray was silenced as he tried to defend himself against the angry demon.

"Hang on!" Egon rushed to Melanie's side, and grabbed her wrist before she could fall. She scrambled for balance as one foot dangled off the side of the roof.

"E-Egon!" Her eyes were wide with panic as she slipped on the wet roof. Rain still soaked them both and the crashing thunder from above threatened even worse was to come.

"I've got you, Melanie." Egon said as he got a more stable grip on her. She looked up at him, her eyes glazed with pain and terror.

"Egon…whatever happens…I promise…I'll try to find my way back to you."

She was looking over his shoulder as Death threw Ray aside and flew towards them, radiating with his building anger. She sent out one last strong blue pulse of energy against Egon's chest, throwing him back across the roof towards Ray. Death's blow hit her head-on and she lost her footing on the edge of the roof and went over the side of the Ghostbusters' firehouse.

Egon landed on the ground roughly and he quickly rolled over, dazed from the collision. Ray ran to help him up.

"What-" Egon shook his head to clear the blurriness that had washed over him. He wiped the rain out of his glasses and looked back to where Melanie had been.

She was gone.

Death whirled around, a triumphant smile on his face. Egon was silent for a moment as his chest was overtaken by an icy hollowness. He was suddenly reminded of his nightmare.

 _"_ _Would you die for me, Egon?"_

He was brought back to his senses as thunder echoed above him. He stood up slowly and drew his particle thrower.

"Yes."

Egon whirled on Death, firing another full powered proton stream at him. Death growled in laughter as the ghosts quickly came to take the hit for him. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder echoed his amusement. Egon could tell that his pack was dangerously close to overheating but he pressed on, throwing the ghosts out of the path as he moved closer towards Death.

"Spengler! You're not thinking rationally!" Ray called out as he ran closer to help him. Egon ignored him and continued to blast the ghosts out of the way.

"Egon, hang on! We're coming!" Winston shouted.

"Hey pal, wait up!" Peter said. Three other proton streams joined Egon's as the Ghostbusters shoved their way towards the giant shadow-enshrouded Death.

The ghosts suddenly swarmed into the air like birds, throwing the four men to the ground with the whirlwind of force they created. The ghosts all flew over the edge of the building and out of sight. Death grabbed Egon by the collar.

"You play the hero well…but if given the chance, are you sure you could really sacrifice yourself like you think you would?" He growled.

Egon still held his particle thrower loosely in his right hand and he fired blindly at Death. The blast struck the demon in the chest and he disappeared in a flash of swirling shadows. Egon fell to the ground, coughing.

"Hey, leave some fighting room for us!" Winston said, offering him a hand. Egon waved him away and struggled back to his feet on his own.

"Spengler, your pack is overheating. You've got to let it cool down, you can't keep going like this!" Ray pleaded, attempting to take Egon's pack off.

Egon shrugged him off and walked towards where Melanie had fallen, his heart heavy in his chest. He stepped towards the edge, feeling his throat grow tight as he looked down at the street below.

Death suddenly appeared in front of him, once more using his human form. His well-kept hair flowed messily in the wind, yet the rain didn't touch him. He studied Egon with amusement, knowing that the man was close to his breaking point.

"Bring her back." Egon said, staring the demon down.

"She's finished her business here, now she's where she belongs." Death said, his voice causing another low rumble of thunder.

"And where is that?" Egon called over the wind. Death's smile widened, showing his perfect sharp teeth.

"On the other side with all of the other weak, pathetic spirits who tried to fight me." Death growled. Egon drew his particle thrower in anger.

"She wasn't weak! You yourself were so captivated by her power you didn't know what to do!" Egon said. Death's eyes flashed in irritation.

"No different than you then, it sounds like." Death said his eyes glowing hungrily. Egon's heart fell. He felt his eyes sting with the threat of tears as he ran at the demon in front of him.

 _"_ _Egon, don't-"_ Ray's voice was drowned out by a louder crash of thunder.

Egon's feet left the concrete of the building's rooftop as he leapt towards Death's triumphant face. Egon fired his particle thrower and watched in dismay as Death disappeared in a flash of lightning. The loudest crack of thunder Egon had ever heard rang out from the cloudy sky above as he realized what was happening.

 _He was falling._


	39. Chapter 39 Hope

**Hey guys! I'm going to be going on a Mission Trip with my church this next week so I made myself sit down and type another few pages of this story. I might get a chance to post another chapter before I leave, but don't hate me if I don't. I'm getting really close to the end now, which makes me kind of sad but I'm sure you guys are just reading this, hoping I'll hurry and wind things up. I promise you, I am! I've already got some ideas for another story after this one... ;)**

 **As always, please review this! I love hearing from you!**

 _"_ _No!"_ Ray cried out, his voice choked. His eyes were wide in shock and he fell to his knees as he realized with a wrenching sob that he had just lost his closest friend.

"Not Egon…" Winston added. He shook his head in disbelief. Peter said nothing, he only stared at the spot where Egon had went over the edge.

"You three will soon join him." Death said as another crash of thunder sounded from above the heartbroken Ghostbusters. Ray glanced over his shoulder to see that Death had appeared right behind them.

"And then what are you gonna do? Just…wipe out the city?" Winston asked, stepping towards the man. Death blinked and studied Winston as if he were stupid.

"No. Why would I stop with this microscopic excuse of a city? Try thinking more along the lines of…the _world._ " Death grinned as another crash of thunder shook the building.

The three Ghostbusters just stared blandly up at him. After a moment, Death's shoulders slumped and his red eyes glanced around in confusion.

"Why aren't you afraid?" His intimidating voice cracked a little. Ray glanced at Peter who scoffed and stepped forward.

"We hear these type of threats all of the time. Yet no one is ever able to hold out against the four of us…" Peter trailed off catching his mistake, his eyes darting quickly to where Egon had unintentionally leapt to his death. "Ah…three now, but you get the point."

Death growled and raised his hand to send a pulse of burning energy toward the three men. Peter's cocky smile faded only slightly as he reached up for his particle thrower. Ray beat him to it. He drew his own and fired straight at the leering demon in front of Peter.

Death yanked his hand back in pain and looked at Ray with genuine surprise. Ray's face was a mask, void of emotion. Death stepped over to him and at the slight movement, Ray fired again.

"Your anger will not help you, Dr. Stantz." Death said lowly. Thunder shook the building and Ray stumbled back, firing another high energy proton stream at Death who dodged it. The stream blasted into the corner of the building's roof, causing a huge chunk of the structure to fall to the street below.

"Hey!" Winston called before Death could hurt Ray any further. The man was already on the ground, knocked out for the moment. Death looked annoyed as he glanced at Winston who was standing his ground with his proton gun at the ready. Death crossed his arms with an amused look on his face.

"And I'm supposed to be afraid of you?" He asked. Winston seemed to shuffle a little closer, his thumb hovering over the button on his neutrino wand.

"No, but you might want to take a look behind you."

Death frowned and then whirled around to see that Peter had found one of the slime blowers in the lab below them. It was cracked and slime dripped in a trail from the door but Peter still held it with a threatening stance. Death's eyes flashed in irritation as he stood in front of the man who once more had his cocky smirk on his face.

"Winston…if you would please…" Peter said dramatically. Death glanced over his shoulder as Winston readjusted his neutrino wand and fired. Death's focus was on evading the stream and he didn't realize that he'd left himself vulnerable to Peter and his slime blower. Death was blasted with a gooey spray of positively charged slime. Death grimaced and held his arms out, looking down at the slime that covered him head to toe.

"You… _idiots!_ _You've ruined my best suit!"_ Death howled.

"Well, it was worth a try, anyway." Peter muttered as he quickly tried to unfasten the slime blower from his back.

Death lunged towards Peter who dove out of the way, the heavy slime blaster weighing him down and preventing him from going too far. Winston fired his proton stream at the demon who screamed in agony and whirled on the last standing Ghostbuster.

"Ray…Peter…I might need a little help…" Winston said, charging up his wand once more and firing. Peter struggled on the ground to shake out of the heavy slime blower and then crawled to reach Ray who was finally stirring awake.

"Come on Ray, you're alright, aren't ya?" Peter asked, glancing up as Winston fired at Death point blank and sent him flying back towards the edge of the building. Ray shook his head.

"Venkman…I can't…did you see what he did to Egon?" He groaned, his face streaked with tears. Peter's heart wrenched as he watched one of the strongest men on the team falling apart in front of his eyes. His eyes fell upon the large purple bruise on Ray's cheek where Melanie had slapped him. He smirked and knew he had to get his friend to snap out of his grief.

"Of course I saw what happened to Egon. You don't want it to happen to anyone else, do you?" Peter said. Ray was silent as he stared at the rain falling on the ground around him. Peter shook his head and clenched his hand into a fist.

"OW!" Ray cried out as Peter's punch collided with his face, in the exact same spot where Melanie had hit him. Ray's eyes cleared and were instantly replaced with anger. He glared at Peter for a moment who smiled in relief.

"Hey guys! The fight's over here!" Winston called. Ray jumped to his feet and ran over to help, followed by Peter who grabbed his proton pack and threw it over his shoulder.

"Pin him down!" Ray called. He aimed for Death's left arm as the demon tried to climb to his feet. Death was pulled to the ground as his left arm was encased in Ray's proton stream. Winston aimed at his right arm and after a few seconds managed to get a hold of it as well. Peter stepped forward and charged up his neutrino wand, a weary smile on his face.

"For Egon." He said as he fired his proton stream, wrapping it around Death's waist. Death cried out in anger as the evil ghosts all flew up around him, flying wildly as their master was unable to move.

Suddenly a loud shout sounded from the side of the building. Peter glanced at Ray, who was the closest to the edge of the building. When Ray stepped a little to the side to glance over the edge, he suddenly ducked as something whooshed up past his face.

"Ray! Get back up! We've almost got him!" Peter yelled. He was instantly silenced when a huge red flash of light flew up from the side of the building and then Egon was there. He collided with the ground and he cried out as he rolled to a stop near the other three Ghostbusters.

Egon lay still for a moment, attempting to catch his breath and then he whirled around as Winston and Ray both ran to his side. Peter still had a strong stream around Death who seemed to be equally interested at Egon's survival.

"How…?" Death choked out, but then he got his answer. A bright red glow was shining to his left where Egon had been tossed back up to the rooftop. Ray, Winston and Egon all stared in amazement while Peter still held tightly to his particle thrower.

"Melanie." Egon breathed.

It looked like Melanie, but in some ways it didn't. The ghost girl in front of them was radiating a blazing red color, her hair billowing in waves of dark curls around her face. She still wore Dana's black formal party dress but it was torn in several places and floating around her in the supernatural breeze. All traces of emotion were gone out of her eyes, replaced with a glowing fiery color. She floated over the Ghostbusters, the pouring rain falling straight through her.

"Woah Ghost girl…new look?" Peter said. He threw a glance over his shoulder at Ray who was gawking up at Melanie in confusion. "Is this how she normally looks or am I missing something?"

"Something's wrong." Egon confirmed. Death smiled.

"My sweet Melanie…you will help me." Death purred.

Melanie's red eyes darted towards him and she threw her hand out towards Peter who instantly went flying away from Death, his proton stream cutting off sharply. Death's voice erupted into laughter as he rubbed his wrists and straightened his slime covered suit.

"Now, gentlemen…this is how things are going to run from now on. You will either stay out of my way…or you'll have to answer to her." Death gestured to where Melanie hovered next to him. Her eyes stared unblinkingly at the four men in front of her. The four Ghostbusters looked at her in confusion as Death whirled around and sent his army of red ghosts flying through the night, swarming over the city.

"Hey!" Peter yelled as he rushed towards Death's turned back. Melanie teleported in his path and shoved him to the ground once more.

"Venkman!" Egon called as Peter rolled on the hard rooftop. Egon ran to him, followed by Ray who was still in shock at the chaos going on around him.

"I…I thought she was on our side?" Peter hissed as he shifted the pack on his back. Ray shook his head.

"This isn't her at all. He's done something to her." Ray said. Egon was still staring up at Melanie with a heart wrenching look on his face. Ray looked at his friend warily.

"What did I tell you?" Death grinned down at the four men with a twinge of humor in his glowing eyes. Melanie's mouth twitched to the side in a smirk, daring them to make another move.

"What do we do?" Winston asked, moving slowly to the other Ghostbusters. Peter eyed Death who had turned around to watch the flashes of red trailing through the sky.

"We can't just sit here while he sends his goons throughout the city. It's still early morning, but people will be heading out to work in the next little bit and when they do…"

"Death will be waiting for them." Ray murmured. Peter nodded as Ray finished his sentence. Peter took his offered hand and stood again, sensing that Melanie was watching their every move while Death's back was turned. Sure enough when he had climbed to his feet, her fiery red eyes bore straight through him.

"Keep a good eye on those troublemakers, Melanie. I'm almost finished." Death said as he raised his arms to a rumble of thunder and several crashes of lightning struck the rooftops of nearly every building in the city. All of the lights in the surrounding buildings blinked out and there was a moment of silence as the city was bathed in darkness.

"That can't be good." Winston said as he looked around worriedly. His hand reached up for his wand but a strong force shoved his hand away. He looked up at Melanie who had her gaze trained on him.

"I don't think that's the best idea, Winston." Ray warned. Melanie's eyes flew to him suspiciously.

"Venkman." Egon mumbled. Peter half glanced at him, realizing that Egon was attempting to be discrete. Melanie's gaze was locked between Winston and Ray who both were slowly trying to creep closer towards her.

"Yeah?" Peter said, shaking the rain out of his hair.

"I think we need to follow the same pattern we had when we were fighting Death before. We need to distract her. Between three of us, I think we can disable her enough to allow one of us to reach Death." Egon said, looking at Melanie who had shoved Winston back a safe distance away from her. Ray instantly jerked back, afraid she would send a pulse of energy towards him.

"You don't think he'll just turn around and throw you off the building again?" Peter asked. Egon slightly shook his head.

"No. He's too absorbed in his work. That's why he's got Melanie keeping us away." Egon said.

Peter took a moment to watch Death who was floating on the very edge of the roof unmoving with his arms spread wide, his hands glowing with red hot fire. Ghosts swirled towards him now, spinning dizzily into what looked like the beginnings of a portal.

"But we've got to move quickly. If he opens that portal…it's going to be really hard to close it." Egon said, studying the swirling red light, wishing that he had his trusty P.K.E. meter with him. His heart sunk briefly as he recalled all of his ruined equipment, but then he was jerked back to reality once more as Melanie's glowing red eyes landed on him.

"Go! I'll tell Ray and Winston!" Peter yelled as he fired at Melanie and ran towards the other two Ghostbusters. Melanie instantly flew into action, blasting Peter to the ground and then whirling around angrily as Egon tried to sneak past her.

"Over here!" Ray called, shooting a proton stream at her back. She screamed and then teleported away. Ray's eyes widened and he just barely had time to turn around as she appeared behind him and grabbed the wand from his grasp. He froze as she used her telekinesis to point the particle thrower towards him and then he quickly tried to shrug out of the straps of the pack.

"Ray, duck!" Winston shouted.

Ray did as he was told as another proton stream shot towards Melanie. She cried out in anger and the wand clattered to the ground in front of Ray's face as she disappeared in a flash of shadows. Ray sighed in relief and rolled over to grab the particle thrower before readjusting the pack on his back and getting back up.

"Easy now Melanie…" Winston said, backing away as she slowly advanced on him.

"Right behind ya, Ghost girl!" Peter called. Her eyes flashed and she whirled around to see that Peter was aiming his proton gun at her as well.

"Okay guys…" Ray said. Melanie's face fell as she realized that she was pinned in between the three Ghostbusters. She spun around, staring at each of them trying to keep her stern gaze.

"Sorry, sweetheart…but we've got work to do." Peter said as he fired his proton stream at her.

Melanie closed her eyes in surrender. But before the stream could touch her, time seemed to slow. His proton stream barely reached a foot from her before sputtering out with a zap of electricity. Peter glanced down at his neutrino wand confusedly and pressed the button again but it was disabled. Ray and Winston both tried to fire theirs when they realized that Peter was having no luck. Their proton packs were unresponsive.

"Uh…Ray?" Peter said. Ray shook his head, equally confused.

As one, the three Ghostbusters looked up at Melanie who still floated above them in their tight circle. Red light pulsed around her, almost as intense as the glow coming from the portal Death was summoning. Her hands clenched into claws and two glowing spheres of flaming energy morphed in her palms. Her eyes flew open and she glared daringly down at the three Ghostbusters as a flash of lightning lit up the rooftop.

The sound of a proton stream charging through the air broke the thundering silence. Melanie looked away from Ray, Peter and Winston and her anger grew even more intense, the flames in her hands glowing brighter.

Egon had reached Death and as his proton stream collided with the demon, the portal stopped moving. Death collapsed and crouched low to the building's roof trying to recover from the blast. Egon hesitantly stepped forward, his neutrino wand aimed at the motionless Death. Then Death's head raised towards Egon, his eyes burning. Though he was down, his expression was still glowing with amusement.

"It's over." Egon said. He pressed the button and fired a stream at Death's smiling face.

 _"_ _Melanie, no!"_

Ray's voice echoed as another crash of thunder sounded and Egon was shoved off of his feet. He saw a flash of red and then his chest was burning with an electric white-hot pain. As he hit the ground he could hear Peter screaming with rage. Egon landed on his proton pack, feeling his back slam against it painfully. He rolled over, feeling something in his back grate together. He grimaced, biting back a cry of agony and then looked up to see Melanie standing over him. Her hand was poised to throw another of the burning energy spheres.

"M-Melanie…" He groaned. Her red eyes glared down at him and the fire in her hand glowed brighter.

"Egon! It's alright, we're here…" Ray said as he knelt at his friend's side, removing the damaged pack carefully. Winston took the pack and set it aside gently as he and Peter both crouched next to their colleague.

"Melanie…if you can h-hear me…you have to stop. You're letting him win." Egon said.

"Finish it!" Death erupted from in front of the portal. Melanie's eyes flickered to where he stood and her gaze rested on him for a moment. She looked back down at Egon and the ball of flame burned even more severely in her palm.

"Egon, she's not-" Peter started, but Egon grabbed his sleeve.

"If you don't remember us…then why did you save me?" Egon asked forcefully.

Melanie's red eyes flashed to a bright shade of violet as she paused, glaring down at him. Egon lay on the ground, his back throbbing and his chest burning as he waited for her to reply.

Ray glanced at Peter who was staring at Melanie hopefully as well. Winston met Ray's worried gaze and they both looked up at the girl who still floated towards them.

Melanie's eyes blazed as she lifted the ball of energy, and threw it.


	40. Chapter 40 Melanie Returns

**Guys...I am SO sorry I haven't updated recently. Between the mission trip last week and training someone new at work this week, I honestly haven't had time to do much. So...regretfully, I'm wrapping this story up soon. I've got ideas for another one to start on soon, and I promise, REAL soon. Please review! :)**

I felt like I was waking up from a deep sleep…the kind of sleep that was riddled with nightmares and restlessness. I could see four shapes in front of me, huddled together. I blinked the drowsiness out of my eyes and focused on the Ghostbusters below me. Everything in my vision was clouded in red, but as I forced myself out of the deep pit of confusion, the color faded away. I glanced down as I felt a tingling sensation in my hand and could see a flaming ball of energy in my palm.

"Well that's…new…" I said slowly. I lifted my palm to eyelevel and studied the strange glowing energy. After a few seconds, an afterthought flew through my mind as I looked back at the Ghostbusters on the ground and I quickly reacted to it.

"NO!" Death shouted as the ball of energy collided with the swirling portal in front of him. There was a crash of thunder, like a sonic boom followed by a bright blue flash and then the portal started to spin in reverse, pulling in all of the scattered red ghosts from around the city. A breeze of supernatural wind tugged at my hair as I stared in awe at the spiraling blue portal.

"Melanie…?"

I glanced down to where Ray, Winston and Peter all stared up at me hesitantly. When my eyes landed on Egon, the one who had spoken, I could see that he was smiling. My eyes finally cleared and I returned his relieved smile. Then I noticed that there was also pain in his gaze. I quickly moved toward him, knowing that sometime after I had fallen from the roof of the building, he had gotten hurt.

"Get away! Haven't you done enough already?" Peter yelled, leaping to his feet and swinging an arm towards me. I backed away quickly, confused.

"What?" I squeaked. Peter's face was full of anger.

"Don't play stupid. I know he's controlling you." He gestured towards Death who was staring at the portal in disbelief. I shook my head.

"He may have been controlling me before, but not now." I explained. I felt a deep regret in my chest as I could see how much pain Egon was in.

The last thing I had remembered was the long fall from the top of the Ghostbusters building. Before I had neared the ground, I had felt the change wash over me as the sunrise came, and then I was on the roof again, glaring down at the four men I had grown fond of. Peter fell silent as he studied me suspiciously.

"Please let me try to help him." I begged softly, floating forward. Peter swung his arm up again and I once more retreated a few feet.

"I said _stay back_!"

"Venkman!" Egon scolded him. He moved to sit up and gasped as pain washed over him. I winced, still not wanting to believe that I had caused that. Peter flashed me a warning glance and then turned back to his friend.

A black streak flashed in front of me and when I stepped back hurriedly, I felt something slam into me solidly. I caught myself before I hit the ground and I floated back into a standing position, confusion etched on my face.

Death crouched behind me, breathing heavily, anger flashing in a red glare. I closed my eyes and stifled a sob of anguish. This was never going to end.

I heard him give a cry of rage and I opened my eyes to see Death charge towards me once again. I flickered out of view and appeared behind him. He whirled around like an angered bull and scowled at me. I levelly met his gaze and spread my hands out, smiling slightly as I felt the tingling of the swirling energy spheres appear in my palms. Death's eyes narrowed.

"You're using the power I gave you against me?" He growled. I shook my head and lifted my hands toward him.

"It was always mine. You just stole it." I muttered. His face stretched into a sneer and he lunged toward me. I released the glowing blue spheres and he was thrown backwards to the ground, his hands melting into the ground of the rooftop.

"She's back!" I could hear Ray shout with excitement. I smiled.

 _"_ _This is impossible!"_ Death shouted as another burst of thunder sounded from above.

I glanced up at the sky, darkened with heavy thunderclouds. My hair, dry because the rain had no effect on me now, was whipped around my face in the supernatural breeze coming from the portal. I looked back down at Death and could see the anger in his eyes replace with triumph.

"The portal is pulling in all of the creatures of the other side. See if you can fight _that._ " He rasped. I glanced up sharply at the rapidly swirling portal in front of me, behind Death. He struggled uselessly against the bonds tying him to the ground.

"Melanie?"

I turned and noticed that all four of the Ghostbusters were standing behind me, their proton guns aimed at Death. Peter looked slightly apologetic as he motioned to his unblinking proton wand.

"Could you uh…power us up, Ghost girl? So we can help you?" Peter asked slowly. I blinked to center myself and stared at each of their packs. I sighed in relief as they all flicked on with a humming sound like normal.

"Thanks, Melanie." Winston said, nodding at me sincerely. I smiled sadly, knowing what was about to happen, and turned back to Death who once more had anger lighting his pale face.

"On three…we're closing that portal." Peter said. I heard four proton wands click into gear. I watched as the last of the glowing red ghosts disappeared into the portal. Death glared up at me, eyes burning. I could feel my feet sliding slowly towards the portal, and I attempted to pull back with no luck.

"Melanie, you're too close!" Egon yelled. I jerked my head around, my face full of fear. I could see through the portal that there were millions of glowing red spirits, speckled with just a few other colors.

"I'm sorry Egon!" I screamed.

Death's eyes flashed with delight. I felt the portal's energy grab onto me and I lost my hold on remaining upright. I tumbled and flipped through the air, hearing the Ghostbusters call after me. With one last effort, I raised my hands as a flash of lightning lit the sky and felt the surging power of the blast. I grasped for that electrical energy and morphed my own power into it, directing it towards Death. He cried out in pain and I could see in the corner of my spinning vision as he flew through the swirling blue portal. I kept my hold on him even as he went through, and didn't stop until the Ghostbusters fired their proton streams.

I released my hold on Death as the portal spun around me and I closed my eyes to the overwhelming frigidness of the other side.

Suddenly I was yanked backwards, and I jerked around to see that Egon was reaching through the portal, holding my hand. I dangled on the other side of the portal, staring at him in horror.

"Egon, you have to let go!" I cried, my voice echoing distortedly around me. I could feel the other ghosts creeping slowly towards me, their clawed hands grasping onto my legs and dress. Egon shook his head.

"I can't lose you again." He said. I felt the sudden strength in his arm as he attempted to pull me through.

 _"_ _Spengler!"_ I heard someone yell from the other side of the portal. Egon let out a frustrated cry and I tried to loosen my stinging grip on his hand but he wouldn't let me. I could feel the warmth of his hand spread up my forearm.

 _"_ _Hurry!"_ Another voice shouted from the Ghostbusters' rooftop. A clawed hand dug into my right calf and I cried out as the weight of it dragged me backwards. Egon nearly lost his grip but grabbed on to my forearm with his other hand.

"Come on, Melanie! I'm not leaving you!" Egon shouted. I kicked towards the ghost that had grabbed at me. Another ghost grabbed at my torso and one latched onto my bare left foot. I cried out as I felt ice cold fingers pulling my grip away from Egon. My hands threatened to phase through his, and it took all of my concentration to prevent it from happening.

"You have to." I said, my voice cracking. He shook his head.

"There's always a way!" He said, catching himself as he nearly fell through the portal. I used some of my dwindling energy to push him back slightly.

"Not this time." I said. I felt an angry ghost jerk my shoulder back and felt one of my hands slip through Egon's grip. He dove forward and I shoved him back.

"If you won't let me save you, then I'm coming with you." He insisted. My eyes widened and I felt my chest tighten.

"You can't." I said, kicking at another ghost as he crept too close to the open portal. Egon fumbled for a better grip on my arm.

"There's nothing for me here without you, I know that now." He said.

"I can think of three reasons for you to stay over there." I said, glancing past him to where I could faintly see Ray, Winston and Peter all trying frantically to usher Egon away. Ray's face appeared over Egon's shoulder and I met his eyes briefly. "They need you, Egon. The world needs all four of the Ghostbusters."

Egon's hand shook as his strength started to fail him. I smiled at him wearily and allowed the surrounding ghosts to claw their way over me. My hand finally slid out of Egon's grasp and I saw Ray grab him by the shoulders and pull him away from the portal.

There was a bright blast of light and then I was surrounded in darkness, the red ghosts retreating hurriedly as if I had burned them.

* * *

 _"_ _No!"_

"Stay down!" Peter shouted as he and Winston slowly merged their proton streams and aimed at the portal.

"Please…stop!" Egon yelled.

"Egon-" Ray started as he watched the two Ghostbusters struggle to hold on to the overpowered proton streams.

Egon shoved Ray away from him as the portal closed with a flash of blue light. A wave of energy passed over the Ghostbusters and spread throughout the sky, blowing the thunderclouds apart and allowing the early morning sunlight to filter through.

"Spengler, I'm sorry…"

Egon glared at Ray who stood to his side, his face streaked with tears. Peter and Winston both switched off their proton streams and stared at Egon worriedly.

"She's all alone over there." Egon said, turning away. Ray opened his mouth to say something, choked up with emotion.

"Ghost girl's a fiery spirit. She'll be fine." Peter tried, approaching Ray and Egon slowly. Egon flashed him a weary glance and then returned his gaze to the ground.

"I knew it was going to come to this." Ray said softly. Egon turned and stared at him and Ray quickly cleared his throat. "I mean…I thought we had lost _both_ of you. But she saved you…again. That's gotta mean _something._ "

"The Ghostbusters aren't finished yet, Egon. She was right…the city needs all of us." Winston added.

Egon sighed and nodded, staring down at the awakening city on the streets below. Cars were crowding the road, the early morning traffic already underway.

"What about our stuff?" Peter blurted out, breaking the thoughtful silence. Egon glanced up at him, eyebrows raised.

"I suppose I'll have to rebuild most of it. Now that I think about it, it might not hurt to update some of our equipment." Egon said. Ray smiled.

"And that's why we need you, Spengler." Ray said, his expression sincere.

"Who else can make us these fabulous toys?" Peter said, holding up his dented particle thrower. Egon smirked slightly.

"Okay, everybody shut down the packs. I'm surprised they didn't obliterate the city with all of the torture we've put them through tonight. I'll work on them in the lab." Egon started.

"It can wait until tomorrow, Spengler. We've earned a leave of absence for a while, I think." Ray said, shrugging out of his pack. Egon flashed him a teasing smile.

"Ray, it _is_ tomorrow." Egon said gesturing at the morning sun. Ray gave him an annoyed smirk then nodded knowingly. He had used his work to escape on countless occasions and knew his friend needed his space for now.

"Well I think I'm due for a nap." Peter yawned lazily.

"I'll help Ray and Egon get the lab straightened out…to the best of my abilities, that is." Winston butted in. Peter flashed him a bored glance and then rolled his eyes.

"Alright fine, we can do that first. We'll get Egon settled into his work and then sleep later." Peter groaned. Egon smirked.

"We've gotta get started somewhere, guys. Let's go." Ray said, leading the way back towards the emergency exit. Winston and Peter slowly followed, leaving Egon behind.

Egon stared at the large pink sun rising over the buildings and watched as the sunrise's beautiful colors slowly faded away into broad daylight. After a few moments, he caught himself with his hand over the scorch mark of his Ghostbusters' uniform. He shifted his heavy proton pack over his shoulder and then headed down into the firehouse to get to work repairing his equipment.


	41. EPILOGUE One year later

Halloween night, just after sunset, a handful of Trick or Treaters retreated out of a costume shop where they had harassed the owner until she had relented to give them candy. After browsing through the remaining costumes and shoplifting a few things, they ran out of the store in search of more candy. As they exited the store, they were met by a tall woman in a torn black party dress. Her long hair hung in tangles around her pale face and she was walking down the sidewalk with no shoes on. A little cowboy nearly bumped into her, dropping a pair of sunglasses and other accessories he had swiped from a shelf. As she glanced down at him quizzically he jumped back at her appearance.

"Who are you?" He asked, staring at her dress.

"I think she might be a zombie bride!" A little fairy squealed. She hugged her arms to herself and shuddered. "That's scary!"

The girl smiled down at the group of kids and watched them as they scurried down the street to their next candy raid. She turned and caught a glimpse of herself in the storefront window and her smile widened. She knelt and picked up the cracked pair of sunglasses the boy had dropped and slid them over her eyes, completing her bizarre appearance.

"Taxi!" She stepped over to the street and almost immediately a yellow cab stopped. She moved to the window where the driver regarded her with an interested smirk.

"Where you wanna go?" He asked.

"Can you take me to the Ghostbusters headquarters?" She asked. His face fell.

"Sure. Don't know if you can catch them tonight, though." He said. She opened the door and quickly got into the cab.

"Why's that?" She asked nonchalantly. He pulled back out into traffic and shrugged.

"They've been closed for a while now. Said something about remodeling or whatever. Every once in a while a few of them will go out on a bust but not as often as they used to."

"Oh." The passenger said slowly. She smiled, her eyes twinkling beneath her large sunglasses.

"Why? What are you looking for them for?" The cab driver asked curiously. The girl in the back shrugged once more.

"Just checking up on them." She said, glancing out of the back window. The driver raised his eyebrows and scoffed quietly.

"You've gotta be pretty important to just walk in there these days, what I hear. It's been by appointment only for a while now." He said.

The girl glanced knowingly at the man in front of her but remained silent.

"So what is it? Some kind of costume party or something no one else knows about?" He pressed. She shook her head, once more looking at the passing city.

"Are you always this prying with your other passengers?" She asked jokingly. He smirked.

"Only when a pretty girl is involved." He said.

His flirting fell on deaf ears as the famous Ghostbusters firehouse came into view outside her window. She grasped for the door handle and leapt out of the backseat.

"Hey! What about the cab fare?!" The driver shouted. His passenger didn't even look back.

"Charge it to the Ghostbusters!" The girl called after her as she rushed towards the building.

Surprisingly enough, the door was unlocked and she walked inside to find that the Ecto-1 sat in its place behind the garage doors. She stared curiously at the hearse and moved deeper into the building. She glanced up to where a large staircase led to a room where various power tools could be heard.

Ray Stantz sat at the secretary's desk, scrolling lazily through the computer. Papers littered the desk in front of him and a stained coffee cup sat by his hand. The girl paused as she reached the desk and cleared her throat. Ray didn't even move.

"Excuse me…"

"We're closed." He said, his voice monotone.

"…I'm looking for the Ghostbusters." The girl finished. Ray looked up lazily, a weary look in his eyes.

"And you found them. Still doesn't change the fact that we're closed. Call us tomorrow and we'll see if we can fit you in." He went back to his computer, mumbling something as he typed.

"Tomorrow's not good for me…" The girl said, slowly removing her sunglasses. Ray glanced up, a quick reply on his lips but as he met her eyes he stopped. The girl smiled as his eyes widened slightly.

"Ray! I need your help!" A voice called from upstairs. Ray's gaze flickered up to the top of the staircase where Egon Spengler appeared, holding a piece of machinery in his hands. Smoke spilled out of the room he was walking out of and he coughed as he stumbled down the stairs.

"Uh…Egon…there's someone here to see you." Ray said, standing up. Egon looked down at the stranger near the secretary's desk and he hastily rushed down the stairs. He crossed the room silently, and handed the large invention over to an equally surprised Ray.

"Egon…" Melanie breathed contentedly as he swept her into a tight hug.

 **The End. :)**


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